East Texas Oil Museum at Kilgore College

Welcome to the East Texas Oil Museum, located on the campus of Kilgore College in Kilgore, Texas. This fascinating museum houses the authentic re-creation of oil discovery and production in the early 1930s from the largest oil field inside U.S. boundaries. Here, visitors see the people, their towns, their personal habits, their tools and their pastimes – all colorfully depicted in dioramas, movies, sound presentations and actual antiques donated by East Texas citizens.

See how tall you stand beside the Texas-sized, hand-painted murals of early oil production and portraits of famous oil men inside the lobby. Journey back into the early 1930s to see how people lived. Refresh your memory to the lyrics of a deep-rooted gospel hymn in the church exhibit. Get a lesson in the history of local schools. Imagine how that antique car in the transportation exhibit ever got anywhere on those rough, rutted roads. Pause a moment in the ETOM Memorial Room to count the accomplishments of one of many persevering oil men, H.L. Hunt.

Then step across the city limits into Boomtown, USA, –a full scaletown full of stores, people, animals, and machinery depicting the lively activity of a town booming in oil.

Stop in at the general store and browse the shelves. Take the children to the drugstore for refreshment and have their picture taken with a wildcatter while mom and pop dance to vintage 1930’s big bands on the jukebox. Don't get your feet dirty on those rutted streets walking to the newspaper office for a Boomtown paper. As you pass the barbershop listen carefully for rumors of a new gusher, then pump your own gas outside the gas station. And make sure to go inside and see the movie on drilling an oil well.

Remember the afternoons at the movies? A visit to the theater brings back actual historical footage of the boom period while you sense a blowout gusher. Your visit is not complete without a trip to Boomtown's museum. Study the geographical exhibits and take the elevator ride to the center of the earth. Let your guides take you 3,800 feet below the earth’s surface to where oil deposits lie. It’s fun and informative.