KILGORE, Texas (KLTV) — If you want to take a closer look at East Texas history, you might want to check out the new exhibit at the East Texas Petroleum Museum at Kilgore College.
It features the photograph of Jack Nolan during his visit to East Texas in 1931 during the oil boom. Nolan took the photos with a camera developed by Kodak that used a 3-by-5-inch negative, making it easier to produce postcards. These postcards were the world’s first visuals of the oil boom and have become highly collectible.
“They really show what life was like here during the boom,” said Olivia Moore, director of the East Texas Oil Museum. “There are some that are spurts coming in, oil well fires, busy street in the town of Longview. Also here we have the first well that entered the East Texas Oil Field in Smith County. »
Moore says the 17 larger prints show more detail than the postcard-sized prints. They also have several other Nolan prints on display in their permanent collection. The exhibition lasts until December 10.
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