Louisiana's Oil Heritage

Scott Heywood discovered oil in Jennings on September 21, 1901, starting a new industry for Louisiana. From the heart of Acadiana, oil fever spread north to Caddo and Pine Island, south to Hackberry and Cameron, east to Barataria and Lafourche, and into the Gulf of Mexico. The oil industry created a worker class in Louisiana that had not previously existed. Towns, complete with schools, churches, and grocery stores, developed in oil fields; in fact, cabins with clothes hanging on the line t...