Blue Ridge put Fort Bend County on the oil map in 1919

Fort Bend grew first on sugar, cotton, and cattle. Then Gulf Oil brought in the county's first commercial oil well at Blue Ridge in 1919. Thompsons had a major field by 1921, and Big Creek followed in 1922.

The pattern underfoot made that quick run possible. Salt domes below the county held oil, gas, sulfur, and salt in concentrated deposits. In 1926, Gulf found a major sulfur and gas deposit at Orchard.

Those place names make the petroleum story easy to miss. Blue Ridge, Thompsons, Big Creek, and Orchard sound rural, but each marks a piece of Fort Bend's industrial turn.