Sunday, February 24, 2008

Texas’ Oil Obsession

I went to the Texas History Museum after about 4 years. At first, it was actually funny to see a whole entire section dedicated to the oil industry at a museum since you would not see something like this in any other state. When I thought about it again, I realized that my family came to Texas because of the oil companies.

I was born and raised in California and the oil industry moved my dad’s job to Houston. I still remember asking my parents why we had to move to Texas, and they said it is very good to live here since all the oil companies are based in Houston. We left a beautiful state for the humid, hot and flat land of Houston, but the southern hospitality kept us hooked.

Surprisingly, the history of oil and energy related items at the museum stopped in the 1950s. The developments of new technologies after that time were very important too. They never mentioned the offshore oil rigs or how Texas has the largest amount of wind farms in the US. The museum only focused on the discovery/obsession of oil, and the beginning of how oil changed Texas from the rural to urban life style.

Although I felt that the museum was lacking in some ways, I still thought the entire exhibit was well done.

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