Pump Jack Capital of Texas
Electra residents in 1911 thought news of the oil gusher was an April Fool’s Day joke.
When a geyser of oil erupted from the Clayco No. 1 well near Electra on April 1, 1911, the giant oilfield discovery launched a drilling boom that brought prosperity and more exploration to North Texas. State lawmakers would later designate Electra and its giant, shallow oilfield as the “Pump Jack Capital of Texas.”
Just south of the Red River, Electra was a small, cotton-farming community barely four years old when petroleum exploration companies rushed to North Texas in 1911. (more…)
