Texas Almanac, 1958-1959 Page: 313
[706] p. : ill. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this book.
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MANUFACTURING IN TEXAS
313
The buhrstones in the San Jose mill shown above are probably the original stones or, at
least, stones that were in early use. The mill ground corn grown around the mission by the
Indians under the supervision of the padres. With its beautiful Rose Window and carvings,
and this mill, Mission San Jose was the point of beginning of art and industry in Texas.
Pictures furnished by Mrs. Ethel Harris, San Antonio.fuel, 38 per cent of its lubricating oils, 23
per cent of its wax, and 12 per cent of its
petroleum asphalt. These are only the larger
items. About 2,600 compounds come from the
refining of oil.
About 88 per cent of the Texas refining
industry is located along the Gulf Coast with
the greatest concentrations along the Houston
Ship Channel and the Sabine-Neches Channel
between Beaumont and Port Arthur. Water
transportation is the principal reason.
Evolution of the refining industry in Texas
has been rapid in many respects. The first
Texas "refinery" was a simple skimming
device at Chireno, Nacogdoches County, built
about 1889 or 1890. However, in a practical
sense of the word the first refinery was
a 1,000-barrel-a-day plant built at Corsicana
in 1898. The bringing in of the great Spindle-
top gusher in 1901 was followed by the build-
ing of large refineries in the Beaumont area.
With the wide discovery of oil over Texas
many small mechanical-type refineries sprang
up. The trend in recent years had been to-
ward larger refineries employing intricate
chemical processes for the production of the
hundreds of products that come from petro-
leum. It is estimated that $2 billion are in-
vested in Texas refineries. (See p. 327.)
k HOUSTON VAN WATERS
INDUSTRIAl
5403 Kirby Drive for In
JAckson 6-1375 Vast Stocks of EvCHEMICAL INDUSTRIES.-There were 522
chemical industries in Texas by the census of
1954, producing a total net value of products
of $722,056,000, the highest of any Texas
classification. It employed 36,976, ranking
third in this item. The chemical industries
require a great investment and produce a
very great value of products as compared
with number of employees.
It has been the most rapidly expanding in-
dustry in the United States in recent years,
and the expansion in Texas has been greater
and more rapid than in any other state. Most
of the industry is located along the Gulf
Coast where ocean-going and barge-line trans-
portation is available. However, there are
some large chemical industries in the in-
terior, notably in the Longview area in East
Texas, the Borger-Pampa area in the Pan-
handle, the Odessa area in West Texas, and
the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
The development of the chemical industries
in Texas began, with a few isolated indus-
tries, about 1940. Since that date, it is esti-
mated that between $2 billion and $3 billion
have been invested in them.
Texas' great quantity of natural gas was
the chief attraction, though the availability
of the liquid petroleum gases (butane, etc.),
& ROGERS, INC. DALLAS
L CHEMICALS DALLAS
dustries 10216 Denton Dr.
ery Hind of Chemical FLeetwood 7.73316%
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Texas Almanac, 1958-1959, book, 1957; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117139/m1/315/: accessed May 1, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.