Conroe, Montgomery County
Oil wells known as Madeley No. 1 and No. 2, drilled in 1933 by Standard Oil Company of Kansas, came in on fire and threatened the entire Conroe oil field. The flames reached as high as 150 feet as firefighters struggled for three months to control the inferno with water, mud, and explosives. Finally Humble Oil Company, using a method never before tested on the Texas Gulf Coast, drilled a directional well, pumped mud into the crater caused by the blowouts, and extinguished the fires. Crater Lake, created by the explosions, remains on the site. (1967, 1995)