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Life from the Oil Patch: "The Acadiana Story"

The Boom Period, 1940-1960

The period from 1940-1960 saw tremendous change brought on by the oil industry in Acadiana. In every way, and every day, Lafayette seemed to change.

As demand for oil increased during and after World War II, oil exploration and extraction kicked into high gear. By 1945, fifteen major oil companies were located in Lafayette and in 1947, when Kerr-McGee drilled the first oil well out of sight of land (ten and a half miles south of the coast of Morgan City and in only 18 feet of water) the boom was about to get even larger. Lafayette saw the establishment of such renowned companies as Petroleum Helicopters Inc (PHI) in 1949, and the city secured itself as a primary setting for corporate offices and ancillary businesses with the construction of the Oil Center in 1952. By 1959, 586 oil companies were in Lafayette, and 190-250 oil firms had offices in the Oil Center. That same year oil employee payroll in the city was over nine million dollars.

THE WAR with the entry of the United States into World War II, oil production had to increase while many of the oil workers went to war. Unbeknownst to industry workers, the momentous change from onshore to offshore drilling was about to happen.
	Steven Wiltz : And there was enough business to go around in the late 30s? Gloria Knox : Oh yeah. Then the war took us…came. And so then we all had to double up and do twice as much. And the rest of them had to go to war. We had to keep them running, they needed the fuel. We had to keep doing our work. It was rough, but it all paid off.
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NEW DEVELOPMENTS As the industry expanded, new people came into the area and affected the city both economically and culturally. These newcomers brought fresh ideas and mores to Acadiana while further spurring development. The city also continued to accommodate the industry, welcoming and encouraging the economic growth it brought. Some of the cultural exclusivity witnessed in previous decades continued as Lafayette sought to secure its position as an industry hub.
	"You had to be able to at least understand French, or Cajun, or else you'd just get gypped. We usually would hire a native too, an interpreter." Steven Wiltz : All these people that were coming in from outside of town, moving here for jobs, where were they coming from? Gloria Knox : They were coming from Texas and Oklahoma, wherever there were oilfields. The companies would move in, and of course they would bring them with them. And of course they were hiring local people too, because they did have a college here, and they did have some education, whether they had been working as engineers or anything."
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MAURICE HEYMANN AND THE OIL CENTER In 1952, Maurice Heymann's plan to create a centrally located business center to attract oil companies came to fruition. The Oil Center became the location for oil related businesses and the town's people of Lafayette could more easily put their fingers on the place where all the changes stemmed.
Maurice Heymann Developer of Lafayette's Oil Center	The Oil Center, Lafayette Louisiana. Established in 1952, the Oil Center became the business center of the oil industry in Acadiana.
	"We went to him (Maurice Heymann) and got on our knees and begged for the Oil Center. We formed a committee and we all went out, pounded on his door and everything else and just told him that we had to have some office space, and we had to have it together. So, sure enough."
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LAGCOE - THE LOUISIANA GULF COAST OIL EXPOSITON In 1955, when Lafayette was selected as the home for LACGOE, the city's image and role as a leader in the offshore oil industry became apparent.
Blackham Coliseum Home of Lafayette's Famous LAGCOE Exposition, 1957	Parade through downtown Lafayette during the LAGCOE Exposition, 1957
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