Thursday, 30 June, 2011 6:41
by Glynn
One of the many historic displays at the Louisiana Oil and Gas Museum.
As Americans, many of us are unaware of oil's importance. We use thousands of oil-based products every day, from medicines to plastics to fibers for clothing. And, of course, oil gives us gasoline, as well as diesel and jet fuel. Oil drives our economy. It touches almost every aspect of our lives. There are no affordable substitutes for most of the products we get from oil.
When I visited the Louisiana State Oil and Gas Museum, I didn’t know what to expect because I'd never heard of the Oil Museum. The staff are very nice and knowledgeable of the story of Louisiana oil. One thing I noticed when I pulled up were all of these old historic homes and ancient cars similar to the ones in Cinderella.
The museum had a lot of information about archaeology. Archaeology is the study of human history and prehistory through the sites and the analysis of artifacts. The museum had information about Thomas Jefferson who is considered on of the world’s first American archaeologist and of course the third president of the United States.
One part of the tour was titled “Dynamite Plunger”. There was a button you push and a large log would rise and fall breaking up the rest of the logs. The noise was so loud, it caught me off guard and I found myself jumping in the middle of the tour. However, this represented Captain Henry Miller Shreve, founder of Shreveport, when he was clearing the Red River of the "Great Raft" log jam.
The museum is located at 200 South Land Avenue in Oil City, LA. From downtown Shreveport to the museum it is a 25 minute drive. The museum is free and the hours of operation 9 a.m. until 5 p.m.
The Louisiana State Oil and Gas Museum is a wonderful place to visit because it shows you the drama of Louisiana’s early oil industry history though photographs, films and life-size dioramas. Louisiana was built on the oil and gas industry, and it is equally important today. For more information visit www.sos.louisiana.gov or (318) 995-6845.