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Daily Sun photo/Janet Jacobs Roughneck Red Picket works on dismantling an oil derrick in Mildred. Once dominating the skyline, the oil derricks of the 1920s and '30s are being torn down.

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April 18, 2011

Oil derricks on endangered list

By Janet Jacobs Corsicana Daily Sun The Corsicana Daily Sun Mon Apr 18, 2011, 10:20 PM CDT

Corsicana — The hulking oil derricks that once dotted this part of Texas like thorns on a cactus have been disappearing for more than 50 years, but the last handful will soon be gone. Nine of the old derricks from this area’s oil boom days still stand against the horizon in Mildred, perhaps half a mile away from U.S. 287. The plan is that within a month most of those will be gone for good.

In the past, the derricks were simply pushed over when new pump jacks were installed, the rusted steel twisted like dinosaur bones. However, an attempt is underway to preserve at least a few of those old behemoths from the scrap yards.

Mark Haas, owner of Mark Haas Petroleum and Skyy Drilling, is allowing some of the derricks to be salvaged even as he works to get the wells back into production. Haas has donated the derricks, and is paying the fee to have one of the derricks dismantled. The Corsicana Preservation Foundation is in the process of having two others dismantled and preserved.

The Corsicana Preservation Foundation has come up with the resources to have three of the derricks dismantled and put into storage. The rest are being taken to other sites or just pushed over to make room for the pump-jacks.

“This is industrial archaeology. At one time, there were hundreds and now there are nine,” said Mike Steely with the Foundation. “A lot of this stuff doesn’t exist anyplace else.”

Some of the derricks have stood since the oil boom of the 1920s and ‘30s.

“It costs about $5,000 to take them down,” Haas said. “We said we’d donate one to the city, and (Mike Steely) has got some people lined up to take some, too. Before, people just pulled them town and tore them up. I’m third-generation (oil field), my son is fourth generation. I appreciate the history.”

The Foundation will put the rescued derricks in storage, and have them reassembled when a suitable site is found, Steely explained.

The derricks were actually donated, but the Foundation is going to reimburse the donor for the cost of dismantling them instead of just destroying them, Steely said.

The owner of the derricks is Mark Haas, who’s investing millions to restore the wells to working order.

Haas is reactivating the wells with new pumpjacks, tanks and lines, and spending a “bunch” of money in the process, he said.

“We’re just trying to see if they’ll work,” he said. “Then maybe we’ll start drilling a few wells there. There isn’t much activity down there, I don’t understand why.”

Last week, Charles Miller and Red Picket, roughnecks who know the construction of derricks from decades of working around them were hard at work removing the pins to one of the oldest derricks. The two are contracted to dismantle the three being saved.

“I’d rather put them up than take them down,” Miller said. “You know what you’re working with when you put them up.”

The Foundation is seeking donations to help preserve more of the structures and thereby some portion of the area’s most important economic history for future generations. To donate, or to get involved in the project, call Steely at (903) 467-4834, or Hugh Stroube at (903) 874-5681.

“We’re going to save them and store them, and when we find a place we’ll put them up,” Steely said.

Haas said he will also donate some of the smaller objects that were found in the fields, as well as one of the old tractor pulling units that go under the derricks to move them from site to site.

“Once it’s gone, it’s gone, and you won’t be able to find it again,” Haas said. “It needs to go somewhere.”

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Janet Jacobs may be reached via e-mail at jacobs@corsicanadailysun.com. Want to “sound off” to this article? E-mail: Soundoff@corsicanadailysun.com

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