Luling, Nickle, Smithville - 1 June 2002

Some pictures from a 260 mile loop from Round Rock to Luling, Nickle, Shiner and Smithville. This trip took about eight hours and was a nice drive through the country on a beautiful day. The route taken is shown on the map to the right.
	Luling was once known as the toughest town in Texas, it's mellowed somewhat over the years. Oil was discovered there in 1922. The oil derrick to the left sits in a park at the entry to town proclaiming Luling's oil heritage.

The reason for traveling to Luling was to see the Central Texas Oil Patch Museum, which turns out to be very much a work in progress. It has some interesting artifacts and exhibits, and is located in a historic building in the downtown of luling
	An old self measuring gas pump from the museum

A horse drawn gasoline delivery cart

Luling is known for it's decorated oil pump jacks throughout town.

This is nice, as oil pump jacks appear all around town. Not all of them are decorated.

Not all of the pump jacks, are in town. Many are out in oil fields around the town. This particular well is the R. Rios #1 well, which is the one that started it all in 1922. The sign next to the well is shown in the picture to the right.

One thing that was particularly noticeable in the vicinity of any of the pump jacks was a nasty odor. Apparently this is hydorgen sulfide gas, as evidenced by this sign.

There are not only pump jacks in the fields around Luling, but also wind driven water pumps.

Of course, Luling has a classic Texas historic downtown, as seen in the picture on the left. They also have a nice Main street movie theatre, now serving as an antique shop.

On to Nickle...