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Bug's Guidebook to Texas.

Bugman

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Luling is in Caldwell County, 45 miles south of Austin. Artifacts found in the county date habitation by small bands of hunter-gatherers to 10,000 years ago. Some of these early inhabitants may be ancestors of the Tonkawa Indians who appear to have been indigenous to the area. Apache and Comanche Indians also lived there.

Anglo settlement began in the 1820s when it was part of Green Dewitt's colony. Early land grants were primarily along the San Marcos River and Plum Creek. By 1848 a growing population required formal local government and the state formed Caldwell County, naming it after Mathew Caldwell.

In 1860 the census counted 4,481 residents including 1,610 slaves. Livestock drove the economy with 33,000 cows and around 12,000 hogs kept. By 1880 farms were growing in importance, growing corn, wheat, cotton, sorghum and hay.

Founded as a railroad town in 1874, Luling served as the Western Terminus of Southern Pacific Railroads Sunset Branch. The Chisholm Trail ran nearby and the cowboys rowdy ways and disdain for authority earned Luling the nickname as "The toughest town in Texas".

When the great cattle drives ended Luling became a sleepy little town of around 500. This changed dramatically on August 9 1922. On that day Edgar B. Davis' Rafeal Rios No. 1 struck oil near Stairtown, six miles northwest of Luling. As news of the discovery spread men in search of work flowed into Luling, swelling the population to over 5,000. The oil field grew to twelve miles long and two miles wide, at its peak producing 15 million barrels per year.

With little housing available, single men and entire families slept under trees, wagons and bridges, anywhere that offered some protection. Soon a tent city known as "Ragtown" sprang up along the railroad tracks. There one could find saloons, gambling dens and brothels.

Luling and the county are calmer these days. Oil and natural gas production peaked in the 1970s but are still important to the local economy. North of town oil field service companies line both sides of Hwy. 183. As more and more people seek to escape the congestion of Austin and Travis County Luling is experiencing a mini population boom. Many of these new residents are people in their 20s and 30s and they are fueling a lively arts and music scene.
 
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William Johnson was a farmer and Baptist minister. His family moved to what is now eastern Caldwell County in 1833 when he was eleven years old and settled near Tenney Creek. In 1870 he built this cabin near the creek, raising five children with his wife.

I don't know if you can tell from the picture but the cabin door is small by today's standards at about 4.5 feet. This was done so if an attacker tried to enter he would be forced to bend over giving the defender an advantage.

The cabin was moved to a Luling park in 1972 so it could be preserved and protected.
 

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Raising five kids in a 4.5 foot cabin? Wow, that's rough but then again rough was pretty much the name of the game I guess when it came to frontier life.
 
Raising five kids in a 4.5 foot cabin? Wow, that's rough but then again rough was pretty much the name of the game I guess when it came to frontier life.

Maybe I didn't explain very well. I've seen the interiors of quite a few cabins from that era and while some of the doors may be small the ceilings were 6' feet or so high. I suspect that's the case with this cabin.

Fascinating information, Bugman. :D

Thanks Mils, glad you enjoyed it. :)
 
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This drilling rig was donated by Mobil Oil Co. and shares the park with the Johnson cabin.
 

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The Oil Patch Museum is downtown in the historic Walker Bros. Mercantile Building, constructed in 1874.

The museum is closed for renovation but some of the exhibits are in place and the young lady at the visitor center let me have a look around.

Hardhats used from around 1920 to today.

Visible gas pumps circa 1930.

A collection of vintage oil cans.
 

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Tools used in the oil field.

Examples of pump jacks.

An oil field storage tank.

Delivery wagons like this were in use into the 1940s.
 

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Pictures one and three. A scale model of a working drill site.

Picture number two is a salt dome from the Luling oil field.
 

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My last stop was Zedler Mill. This link gives a summary of the mills history and importance to Luling in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

First two pictures. A cotton seed cleaner.

An 1895 steam engine.
 

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First two pictures. A grist mill circa 1918.

An industrial scale.

A hand cranked corn sheller.

Part of the conveyor system for the saw mill.
 

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Some of the exhibits are not labeled so I can't say what they were used for. The copper sink in the third picture is believed to come from the first house Zedler built on the property.
 

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Corn for the feed mill was processed in this building.
 

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The San Marcos River.
 

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Very interesting new photos. That old steam engine looks primitive but sturdy. :D
 
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