Moonshine Hill

Moonshine Hill (HM16QB)

Location: Humble, TX 77338 Harris County
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Country: United States of America
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N 29° 59.971', W 95° 14.03'

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Inscription
Early reports of natural gas seepages in this area were not uncommon in the late 19th century. James Slaughter noticed such natural occurences near the San Jacinto River in 1887. Several years later, with S. A. Hart, he set up a drilling operation in the area, but it proved unsuccessful. Charles Barrett, a former Huston merchant, also drilled wells here, but found the results limited. In 1904, the Higgins Oil Company brought in a major gas well and the following year, the first successful oil well was drilled.

This area, known as the Moonshine Hill section of the great Humble oil field, became the site of a boom town. Within months of the 1905 discovery, the population of the Moonshine Hill settlement increased to 10,000. Early operations associated with the site included the Moonshine Oil Company of Walter Sharp, Ed Prather, and Howard R. Hughes.

Although tents comprised most of the early structures, Moonshine Hill eventually included a church, school, postal station, stores, hotels, and saloons. Despite three separate boom eras, the last occurring in 1929, Moonshine Hill declined as a community. Its brief existence, however, had a dramatic impact on the economic development of Humble and Houston.
Texas Sesquicentennial 1836-1986
Details
HM NumberHM16QB
Tags
Marker Number10733
Year Placed1986
Placed ByTexas Historical Commission
Marker Condition
10 out of 10 (1 reports)
Date Added Thursday, October 16th, 2014 at 8:22am PDT -07:00
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Locationbig map
UTM (WGS84 Datum)15R E 284523 N 3320832
Decimal Degrees29.99951667, -95.23383333
Degrees and Decimal MinutesN 29° 59.971', W 95° 14.03'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds29° 59' 58.26" N, 95° 14' 1.80" W
Driving DirectionsGoogle Maps
Area Code(s)281, 713
Closest Postal AddressAt or near 100 Sherwell St, Humble TX 77338, US
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I Saw The Marker

Passed the marker. It was in good condition.

Sep 3, 2018 at 10:35am PDT by jcanup

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