The oil boom of the late 1900s and then into the early 2000s was a time period marked by explosive economic growth, rapid industrial expansion, and devastating environmental destruction. With the spread of drilling sites across landscapes, spanning from Texas on into the Middle East, people’s lives were changed forever by making literal fortunes overnight. These 25 striking photos all capture the stark reality of the oil boom. They shine a light on the wealth that it was able to generate, as well as the grimmer truths that lurked beneath the surface.
1. Some of the massive oil fields that took over Venice, California in the 1930s.
Just imagine spending a day at a sunny California beach with these looming over you.
2. Some of the oil derricks out in Huntington Beach, California.
To think that those very oil derricks have most definitely been replaced with high-rise buildings or something of the sort by now.
3. Some more of the oil fields out in Venice Beach, California in the early 1950s.
We just had to go and ruin all of that natural, pleasant sea mist scenery at the beach with those oil derricks.
4. A US-owned Guatemala oil well next to a drilling rig ignites causing rig shut down.
That had to have been an explosion that was heard from many miles away.
5. A field of some very dystopian oil derricks out in Huntington Beach, California in the 1920s.
People can somehow go about their beach activities as if there weren’t giant steel structures looming overhead in the background.
6. Oil fields in Tomball, Texas, during the late 1930s.
This looks like a great place to take a family Christmas card.
7. The Summerland, California oil field in 1906.
It almost looks like these oil derricks are storming the actual beach.
8. An oil well fire in Signal Hill, California during the early 1930s.
It seems like the oil fields themselves were placed so close together that they were almost tempting disaster to flare up.
9. The Spindletop oil field in Beaumont, Texas.
Yeah, nothing to see here. A very scenic place to take a stroll. You can probably see the sky.
10. Texas oil field workers observing an oil rig gusher in the 1900s.
It must be tough to watch that unfold. It’s not like you’re going to climb up there and try to patch it up on the spot.
11. The infamous Lucas Gusher was the first U.S. well to produce 100,000 barrels of oil a day.
This is one of those oil wells that clearly came into the world just ready to let loose.
12. The sabotaged Amadi Oil Fields during the Gulf War in 1991.
This is just heartbreaking on every account.
13. A forest of oil derricks sprouts up on the Signal Hill oil field in Long Beach, California.
The field from high overhead makes them look a little less terrifying. Still a startling scene to behold though.
14. A Romanian oil field in 1923.
You just know that people were playing a serious game of, “not it”, when it came to deciding who had to climb those treacherous towers.
15. An oil rig on Main Street in Breckenridge, Texas.
This oil rig is trying to hide in plain sight, but it’s really giving the opposite intended effect.
