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SOUR
LAKE, TEXAS"Gateway
to the Big Thicket"
Hardin County, East
Texas
Highways 105 and 326
15 miles SW of Hardin
18 miles
NW of Beaumont
Population 1,667
(2000) |
|
A Texaco gas station globe sits atop a derrick downtown
TE Photo, 9-04 |
Sour
Lake is known as the home of Texaco. Formed in 1903, the Texas Company was one
of the three major oil companies that can trace their birth to the oil fields
around SE Texas.
Sour
Lake History in a Pecan ShellThe
oldest surviving town in Hardin County, Sour Lake was settled around 1835. First
known as Sour Lake Springs after the medicinal waters, the healing properties
were long known to the Indians long before the arrival of white settlers. By 1850
Sour Lake had become a full-fledged health resort. After a visit in the early
1860s, the town got a testimonial from none other than Sam
Houston himself. Like many medicinal springs, the water was bottled and sold.
The population in 1885 was 150 which declined to only 50 by 1896. When
oil was discovered in 1902, Sour Lake became one of the earliest Texas boom-towns
with a population that was estimated as high as 10,000. It was reported that fifty-two
saloons were in operation during the first year of the boom. By 1903 half of the
wells were coming up dry due to over drilling.
In 1914 two railroads
serviced the 2,800 residents of Sour Lake. As late as 1948, Sour Lake was still
producing 3,500 barrels of crude oil daily.
Sour Lake's population was
3,032 in 1925 which declined to around 1,500 in 1942. It peaked in 1976 with 2,500
residents. In recent years Sour Lake has been celebrating its history by restoring
downtown buildings, displaying artifacts from boom days and having a professional
muralist paint murals with historic themes.
Sour Lake
Photos: |
|
One of Sour Laker's new historic murals by S. Stowell
TE Photo, 9-04 |
| Downtown
Sour Lake
TE
Photo, 9-04 |
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The Former Sour Lake Jail
TE Photo, 9-04 |
The
cage jail is now enclosed in the Jail House. It opens at 8AM.
Photo
courtesy Barclay
Gibson, July 2011 |
| Texas
Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history, stories, and vintage/historic
photos of their town, please contact
us. | |
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