Million Barrel Museum
A 1928 experimental concrete reservoir for storing Permian Basin oil became a water park in 1958 — for one day.
Travelers on I-20 in West Texas should not miss the petroleum museum at Monahans southwest of Odessa and Midland. Not just a collection of Permian Basin artifacts, the Million Barrel Museum’s biggest attraction is a former experimental oil tank the size of three football fields.
The Permian Basin once was called a “petroleum graveyard” — until a series of oilfield discoveries beginning in 1920 brought exploration companies to the vast, arid region. Completed near Big Lake in 1923, the Santa Rita No. 1 well alone would endow the University of Texas with millions of dollars.
However, as the giant basin’s oilfield discoveries grew, the lack of infrastructure for storing and transporting growing volumes of oil proved to be an equally big problem. (more…)
