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December 2, 2024
Today in Texas History
On this day in 1907, citizens of Peck, located about 30 miles north of Houston, renamed their community Tomball in honor of Thomas Henry Ball, a well-known politician and prohibition advocate. Ball had been a United States congressman and strong supporter of the development of the Houston Ship Channel.
The town of Tomball later rose to prominence in 1933, when drillers struck oil. The population of the new boomtown, nicknamed “Oil Town U.S.A.,” tripled as 25 to 30 oil and gas companies rushed in to set up camps, housing developments, and recreation facilities.
In 193,5 Humble Oil and Refining Company (which later became Exxon Company, U.S.A.) granted free water and natural gas to Tomball residents, in exchange for drilling rights within the city limits. This arrangement gained the attention of Ripley’s Believe It or Not, which heralded Tomball as the only city with free gas and water and no cemetery.
The town of Tomball later rose to prominence in 1933, when drillers struck oil. The population of the new boomtown, nicknamed “Oil Town U.S.A.,” tripled as 25 to 30 oil and gas companies rushed in to set up camps, housing developments, and recreation facilities.
In 193,5 Humble Oil and Refining Company (which later became Exxon Company, U.S.A.) granted free water and natural gas to Tomball residents, in exchange for drilling rights within the city limits. This arrangement gained the attention of Ripley’s Believe It or Not, which heralded Tomball as the only city with free gas and water and no cemetery.