Million Barrel Museum, Texas

Located in Monahans, Texas, this five acre concrete bowl, 35 feet deep, used to have a roof, and was built in the late 1920s to store crude oil–around a million barrels worth–during the early boom years of the region. The oil leaked out through cracks, into the ground, and the tank was soon abandoned. In the 1950s it was filled with water and turned into a recreational lake, which also leaked, and was abandoned. In 1987 it was opened as part of a museum site, operated by the local country historical commission.