Joseph S. Cullinan, Pioneer in Texas Oil

Cullinan's second act ran through Beaumont and Houston. The Handbook of Texas says he moved to Beaumont soon after Spindletop and founded the Texas Company, later Texaco, in 1902. He moved its headquarters to Houston in 1905 and lost control in a 1913 proxy fight with eastern investors. He then led the Houston Chamber of Commerce from 1913 to 1919, backed the ship channel, and chaired the Mount Rushmore National Memorial Committee from 1928 to 1933. He died in 1937 while visiting Herbert Hoover in California.

What the plaque says

Joseph S. Cullinan, Pioneer in Texas Oil ( former homesite of) At age 14 Joseph S. Cullinan (1860-1937) began his career as a laborer in the Pennsylvania oilfields. After the Corsicana oil discovery in 1894, Cullinan played a major role in the early development of the field. A daring business leader, he moved his operation to new fields and organized companies, including Texaco, to meet the needs of the growing oil and gas industry. He influenced legislation to prevent abuse and to provide conservation measures. His foresight in exploration, production, refining, and marketing helped establish Texas as a leader in the petroleum industry. (1979)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Petroleum Industry Park — 0.7 mi
  The pipes and drilling tower mark where a city water well struck oil on June 9, 1894, the start of the first Texas field to produce oil and gas in important quantities.
• Blind Lemon Memorial Cemetery — 20 mi
  The Freestone County grave of the Texas blues singer Blind Lemon Jefferson, who recorded for Paramount in Chicago from 1926 and died there in December 1929.
• Ellis County Courthouse — 30 mi
  J. Riely Gordon's courthouse of 1897 in Pecos red sandstone and pink granite, with twenty-one carved stone faces and two cornerstones left by a quarrel over its building.

More markers nearby

• Rosenberg Family — steps away
• Judge John S. Callicutt — steps away
• Frank Neal Drane — 0.2 mi
• Colonel Roger Q. Mills — 0.2 mi