Rare Lucas Gusher photograph donated to Spindletop Boomtown Museum

A rare original photograph capturing one of the most pivotal moments in American history now has a permanent home at Lamar University's Spindletop Boomtown Museum.

During a ceremony Wednesday, Judge John Stevens and his wife, Marcia, donated an original Frank Trost photograph of the Lucas Gusher, preserving a piece of Southeast Texas history for future generations.

The photograph was taken Jan. 10, 1901, the day the Lucas Gusher erupted at Spindletop, launching the Texas oil boom and ushering in the modern petroleum industry. The discovery transformed Beaumont from a lumber town into the center of a rapidly expanding energy economy that reshaped the region, the state and the world.

Museum Specialist Hope Meredith said the image captures more than a historic event.

"On January 10, 1901, this photograph captured a single moment in history, a moment that exemplified what happens when ingenuity meets perseverance and some of that good old Texas grit," Meredith said. "It captured the birth of a wealth that would transform our little lumber town into a bustling city and bring sweeping change to our region, our state and eventually our country and beyond."

Museum Director Dr. Belinda George thanked the Stevens family for entrusting the museum with the artifact.

"This photograph is more than an artifact; it tells a story," George said. "It connects us to the people, the perseverance and the history that made Spindletop a landmark known around the world. Because of your gift, thousands of visitors, students and families will have the opportunity to experience that story for years to come."

Stevens, a Lamar alumnus, said donating the photograph was a natural extension of his family's longstanding support of the university.

"We've always been very proud graduates of Lamar," Stevens said. "This really is a family gift to Lamar University because we have come to believe Lamar is part of our family."

Stevens said acquiring the photograph took years of effort.

"This was hard to get, and it took a lot of doing, but we got something special for Lamar University and Southeast Texas," he said.

The print is believed to be one of only two photographs Trost captured of the Lucas Gusher on the day it erupted. While one version has been widely reproduced for more than a century, Stevens said this image represents a much rarer second exposure.

"The people pictured on horseback underneath are in the same position," Stevens said. "There's no way they were brought back days later. We know a second photograph was taken from a different position, and the oil was dispersed differently by the wind."

According to Stevens, photographer and appraiser Will Sapp traced the print to a Feb. 2, 1901, edition of Scientific American, the only known publication of the rarer image.

"This is not the photograph people have seen reproduced countless times," Stevens said. "It's a very unique thing that we are proud as our family to give to Lamar and to Southeast Texas."

Stevens said he hopes the donation will preserve the story of Spindletop for generations.

"We're proud to be able to give this to this great museum and to Lamar University so all of us can share and see what was happening in history at that very special time," he said. "I know it will be appreciated for generations."

The original photograph will become part of the museum's permanent collection, helping preserve the story of the discovery that launched the modern energy industry and forever changed Southeast Texas.