The Record Newspapers - Hometown News For Orange County, Texas

Spindletop-Gladys City Boomtown, on the Lamar University campus, will celebrate the life and achievements of Capt. Anthony F. Lucas at its next Wildcatter Weekend on Saturday, Sept. 8, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. with a special one-day exhibit and the first-ever 21st Century Wildcatter Challenge.

“We have a great line-up of Wildcatter Weekends, this fall,” said museum director Mark Osborne. “We have really worked to tie the activities to the history and to some of the key people connected to Spindletop.”

Capt. Anthony F. Lucas was the mining engineer who oversaw the drilling of the great oil gusher that blew in on Jan. 10, 1901, and that would come to bear his name. With the return of Wildcatter Weekends, in September, families will have the opportunity to view a one-day exhibit of some recently discovered personal papers and photographs that belonged to Lucas and that have never been publicly available.

Families can also participate in the 21st Century Wildcatter Challenge, an engineering and design challenge using average household items, at 1:00 p.m. and 2:30 p.m.; enjoy cookies and lemonade; and experience the replica Lucas Gusher at 4:00 p.m.

Admission is free, and reservations are encouraged for the Wildcatter Challenge sessions, but not required. Spindletop-Gladys City Boomtown is located on Hwy. 69 at University Drive in Beaumont. Plenty of free parking is available. For more information, call (409) 880-1750 or contact the museum at [email protected].