Do you need spring break ideas that are fun and educational? Are you curious about the history of oil in Texas? We highly recommend checking out the Texas Energy Museum in Beaumont, TX. Beaumont was made famous in 1901 when an oil well was discovered at Spindletop about 5 miles from downtown. The uncontrolled oil gusher shot oil 150 feet into the air and spewed 80,000 barrels per day! It changed the course of history for the state of Texas and this museum is a great way to understand the background of how oil is formed and how it’s processed to make it into usable products like gasoline. You can see our trip to the Spindletop discovery site here .
It all starts with organic matter like these fossils that have been trapped in layers deep within the earth. The deeper the layer, the hotter the organic matter becomes and it changes into oil and gas.
These molecules are a handy way to explain the difference between gases (like methane) and solids (like crude oil.) Have you ever tried to explain to your kids that natural gas is different than gasoline that you put in your car? It’s a lot easier to do with these models. 🙂
This is my favorite way of seeing the differences between types of crude oil by their viscosity. Turn the wheel and see how each sample drains differently depending on its thickness.
My kids loved watching this early Texas wildcatter talk about the wells he drilled in Corsicana, TX while standing on a moving drilling rig replica. (The face moves like Disney’s face projection that you see on the Frozen or Seven Dwarves Mine train ride). It’s really quite interesting to listen to him talk about the early days of drilling in Texas.
Then we checked out a more modern model offshore drilling rig. I have to admit, it made this mama proud when I took this picture and it reminded me of all my visits to offshore facilities.
Then we saw a model of a refinery where crude oil is processed to make gasoline.
But our all time favorite exhibit in the museum is a room where we “shrink” down to 4″ and zoom through the pipes and vessels of a refinery and take a journey with the crude oil to become gasoline.
The museum has a second story dedicated to the history of Spindletop with another face projection exhibit of Patillo Higgins and Captain Lucus discussing their amazing discovery of the gusher at Spindletop.
We hope you take a trip to our beautiful city of Beaumont to visit this amazing museum and learn all about the history of Texas oil. Make sure to check out our visit to the site of Spindletop here and this Big Kid Small City post for more things to do around Beaumont with kids.
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