W.C. Trout and the Counter-Balanced Pumping Unit

The unit began as a challenge. Ross Sterling, president of Humble Oil, pushed Trout to build a worm-geared pumping drive, and the first enclosed unit went onto a Humble well at Goose Creek. Larger water volumes cracked shafts and failed gears. W. L. Todd of Standard Oil said he would buy such a unit only if it were counterbalanced, and Trout sketched the idea over lunch in 1925. A balanced unit ran in Humble's Hull field that year, the patent followed in 1926, and the Seminole, Oklahoma strike of fall 1926 spread the design.

What the plaque says

W.C. Trout and the Counter-Balanced Pumping Unit The son of an early industrial engineer, W.C. Trout (1874-1947) came to Lufkin in 1905 and joined Lufkin Foundry & Machine Co. as a shareholder and company secretary. Already a successful inventor, Trout led the diversification of the shop from equipment repair to production and sales. In 1926, he patented a design for a counter-balanced pumping unit that became a standard in the oil business worldwide and contributed significantly to the success of the Texas oil and gas industry. Eventually holding more than 30 patents for his innovative designs, Trout served as company president from 1931 until his death in 1947, a period of marked expansion for the business. (2002)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Caddo Mounds State Historic Site — 31 mi
  Three earthen mounds of an ancestral Caddo village and ceremonial center on the old El Camino Real, settled about A.D. 800 and still sacred to Caddo people, with a grass house and visitor center.

More markers nearby

• Lufkin Foundry and Machine Company — steps away
• KRBA-AM Radio Station — 0.5 mi
• Lufkin Daily News — 0.5 mi
• Site of Rehearsal Hall for The Hoo Hoo Band — 0.5 mi