![](https://clui-files.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/styles/presentation_small/public/spindletop.jpg?itok=-2bFpmp2)
This salt dome near Beaumont is the site of the 1901 gusher that brought in the modern petrochemical age and established the Gulf Coast as its epicenter. This also started the search for salt domes as most likely sited to find oil. The Spindletop oil field is largely depleted, and the salt dome is used as an underground storage site for oil and gas, and waste injection. The site of the well of the historic Lucas Gusher is marked with a flagless flagpole, distantly visible from an interpretive overlook on the edge of the site, as the rest of the property is private, and busy with companies building and maintaining the underground storage cavities.