24 THE COASTAL BEND MAGAZINE • Late Spring 2019 TheCoastalBend.com While the rest of the country and most of the world suffered the pains of the Great Depression, the strength of the booming Tex- as oil industry largely saved the state from most of that pain. The northeast-based fathers of the American oil industry, George Bissell and John D. Rockefeller, by the 1930’s had been replaced in prominence and power by Texans Sid Richardson in Fort Worth, H. L. Hunt and Clint Murchison in Dallas, and H. Roy Cullen in Hous- ton. These four men laid the foundation for what is today the highest concentration of private, petrochemical-derived wealth in the world, along with side-inter- ests that have directed the growth of the state of Texas. Cullen contributed greatly to the establishment of the University of Houston, donated the land in downtown Houston for Texas Southern Uni- versity, one of the country’s top Historically Black Colleges, and was a part- ner in Frost Bank, a major regional employer. The Sid Richardson Founda- tion has funded buildings and facilities at universities throughout the state, as well as countless scholarships and research grants. His oil wealth has built museums, art galleries, gymnasiums, science and visual arts centers, and even college dormitories in Fort Worth and elsewhere in Texas. H. L. Hunt’s kids have made their marks in more high-profile fashion. Two of the sons all but cornered the world silver market during the 1970’s, resulting in a jump in price from $11 an ounce to $50 by 1980—they were eventu- ally charged with commodities manipulation by the U.S. Government, and ended up filing for bankruptcy. H.L.’s youngest son, by his second family, was Ray L. Hunt, who runs Hunt Oil to this day and is the marked suc- cess of the families—he opened up the North Sea in the 70’s, Yemen, Chile, and Kurdistan in Northern Iraq, and has built dozens of public facilities throughout Dallas including Reunion Tower, the center of the city’s sky- line. His half-brother, Lamar (who was tied up in the silver deal), was the father of the American Football League, the Kansas City Chiefs, and was a legendary professional tennis promoter. To most Texans, however, Clint Murchison has contributed the most—by far—to the culture of the state. His son founded the Dallas Cowboys. A s international demand soared during World War II and in the post-war era, so too did exploration in West Texas, spe- cifically in the Permian Basin, which spans 250 miles from east to west and 300 miles north to south, occupying the northwest corner of the state, including eastern sections of New Mexico. The highest-grade oil in the world, since 1946 the benchmark for pricing in international markets, West Texas Interme- Below— Industrial pipe production atTPCO Gregory Plant akaTianjin Pipe Co., China’s biggest industrial investment in the U.S.; Right, Top to Bottom— Map depicting industrial investment in the northeast corner of Corpus Christi Bay, in San Patricio County; the new Harbor Bridge under construction on North Beach, its route across the ship channel tracked by the placement of support pillars; the $12 billion Cheniere Energy liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipping facility near Ingleside.