Back to Southeastern New Mexico Maps
Topics (click on a topic to jump to that section)
Flynn-Welch-Yates Oil Well | Hobbs | Llano Estacado | Llano Estacado | Lovington | Oil Country
Flynn-Welch-Yates Oil Well
On April 9, 1924, a well drilled at this site by the partnership of Thomas Flynn, Van Welch, and Martin Yates, Jr. struck oil. It became the first commercial oil well in New Mexico and led to subsequent discoveries of vast amounts of oil and gas. The oil and gas industry has developed into the single greatest source of revenue for the State of New Mexico.
Hobbs
Named for the family of James Hobbs which homesteaded here in 1907, Hobbs became first a trading village for ranchers and then a major oil town after the discovery of oil by the Midwest Oil Company in 1928.
Llano Estacado
Llano Estacado, Stockaded Plain, s southern part of High Plains section, a high plateau of 32,000 square miles in eastern New Mexico and western Texas. Crops are irrigated by "fossil" water pumped from underground sandstones. Deeper are prolific oil and gas pools, this liquid black gold of southeastern New Mexico.
Llano Estacado
Llano Estacado, Stockaded Plain, is southern part of High Plains section, a high plateau of 32,000 square miles in eastern New Mexico and western Texas. Crops are irrigated by "fossil" water pumped from underground sandstones. Deeper are prolific oil and gas pools, the black gold southeastern New Mexico.
Lovington
Lovington is named after Robert Florence Love, who founded the town on his homestead in 1908. It was a farming and ranching community until the discovery of the Denton pool after World War II turned it into an oil town. It is the county seat of Lea County.
Oil Country
Southern part of Llano Estacado, Stockaded Plain, overlies prolific oil and gas geologic formations of Pennsylvanian and Permian age; Monument Jal field to west, Drinkard field to south and Elliott Littman to north. At surface, Ogalalla Formation yields gravel and caliche; at depth it supplies precious water.