OK, so I'm back from sabbatical. Quite frankly, I'm a little embarrassed. After spending a good part of my career in critical systems engineering, where everything is about uptime, and redundancy is the norm, I let my only computer die on me.
Oh, I had the pictures backed up (thank goodness), and these posts are online, so there wasn't any worries there, but I couldn't put out any new stuff, and that ain't right. I have another computer, but it's in storage in Alvarado, TX, at least 4 hours away.
So I bit the bullet and bought a Chromebook. That's what this, and probably the next few posts are being written on while I get my main machine over to Dell to get it worked on.
Alright, enough about that. Let's get to this week's adventure, shall we? I want to tell you about the Million Barrel Museum in Monahans, Texas.
Originally built as a storage tank for oil during the first Texas oil boom, it has been a lake, a dance hall/party spot, and is now the main attraction for the Wood county historical museum.
In 1928 oil companies were pulling oil out of the west Texas oil sands. A lot of it. So much so that there weren't enough barrels to hold it all. Shell Oil Co. decided to build a huge tank in the ground to store all that oil.
Over the course of the next few months, an army of men and mules dug out a hole the size of 3 football fields, then lined it with concrete and erected a dome shaped cover. But, alas, it was not to be.
Turns out that much oil (a millions barrels, remember?) weighs a whole lot. The tank immediately began crack and leak. So, the company drained all the oil and abandoned the project.
The tank sat empty for nearly thirty years until Wayne Long bought the property. Wayne had the idea of filling the tank with water and using the lake as a tourist attraction.
So he patched up the cracks, drilled a bunch of water wells, and proceeded to fill up the tank. He even hired some professional water skiers and planned a big grand opening.
And that's all he got. You see, water weighs even more that oil, and the tank immediately began leaking again. Wayne's big dream failed dramatically with the attraction opening and closing on the same day.
Wayne never gave up, though. For the rest of his life, he held on to the property, and even planned to use the high bank circle as a racetrack. But nothing ever came of it.
After Wayne died, his wife donated the tank to the Ward county historical society. Now here were some folks with smarts. If the thing won't hold water, let's use it dry! A big, flat chunk of concrete lends itself to all kinds of ideas. So just like the kids in the old movies that put on a show in the barn, they had dances, tailgate parties, and even an annual fajita cookoff. Heck, they even built a stage on one side of the tank (see the pic at the top. The stage is on the right).
And they didn't stop there. This was the Ward county historical society after all. They added a bunch of really nice stuff, like an early 1900's house, a museum for the rattlesnake bomber group (stationed in Ward County during WWI and named for the abundance of the rattlin' reptiles in the area), even the first jail, a Coca Cola museum and a building dedicated to the history of the county. Today, it's a really great place to spend a few hours wandering the place and learning about this county and it's oil-rich history.
Here it is, folks. This week's side note: At the museum you will find a lot of interesting artifacts. In particular, look for a pair of old stamps, like the ones Notary Publics use. These two have a fun history.
Monahans is the county seat of Ward County, but it wasn't always that way. Many moons ago another town nearby was the seat. But Monahans was more successful and lobbied to have it moved there. The judge was agreeable, so they started making plans.
Well, this other town wasn't happy at all, oh no. Being the county seat was pretty much all they had going for them. So they got a petition up and took it to the judge, who told them it wasn't valid without the county seal. Well, they rushed back to the courthouse and arrived just in time to see the Monahans folks leaving with all the courthouse stuff, including the seals!
Not quite a day late, but definitely a couple of stamps short.
Of course, you can't go to Monahans without visiting the Monahans Sandhills State Park. Yep, that's right, sand hills in west Texas. It's like being at the beach, but no ocean. Kids can slide down the dunes on discs available for rent at the visitors center, and if you're up for a workout, trying hiking the dunes. My calves are still burning!
That's it for this week. Man, am I glad to be back. I've been busy these last couple of weeks and have a lot of fun stories to tell.
Oh, I figured out what Paisano has to do with Big Bend. It's.... Tex is telling me you have to wait. So, for now...
Later, folks.
Million Barrel Museum https://www.facebook.com/pages/Million-Barrel-Museum/185984244791827
Monahans Sandhills State Park. https://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/monahans-sandhills
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