Ranger: Roaring Ranger Museum

Entrance to a building with sign saying Roaring Ranger Museum

Roaring Ranger Museum (Billy Hathorn)

Photo of vehicles on a muddy city street labeled Main Street, Ranger Texas 1919

Dirt roads in Ranger boomtown.

Photo of vehicles on a muddy city street labeled Stuck in the Mud, Ranger Texas 1919

Oilfield supplies make their way through muddy streets.

Wide angle photo of a sprawling group of shacks and oil wells

Ranger circa 1919 (Library of Congress)

Photo of oil well tower with oil shooting out of top. Labeled McClesky No. 1, October 17, 1917

McClesky N0.1 oil well (W.K. Gordon Sr. Papers, University of Texas, Arlington)

In October 1917 a well was drilled nearby on the McClesky family farm. Oil exploded skyward - it was a “gusher”! One of the greatest oilfields in the country had been discovered. “McClesky Well #1” began an oil boom that drastically changed Ranger - and impacted the First World War, where the Allies were facing a critical petroleum shortage.

The Roaring Ranger Oil Museum tells the town’s story after oil was discovered. Visit the museum to see a vintage drilling rig and hear the town’s fascinating saga.

Roaring Ranger Oil Museum

  • Hours: Saturday 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. or by appointment
  • Admission: None
  • 121 S. Commerce St., Ranger, TX
  • 254-647-3091
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