The late 1930 discovery of the East Texas Oil Field, then the biggest in the world, abruptly lifted attention from the Great Depression. Trapped in a layer of porous sandstone called the Woodbine formation 3,600 feet below the surface, the field was approximately 40 miles long and five miles wide, with nearly half of it in Gregg County. The Longview Chamber of Commerce offered a $10,000 prize for the first oil well in Gregg County within 12 miles of the city. Realtor B.A. Skipper, who had long believed oil was there, and other investors had already begun drilling on a farm owned by Kelly Plow Works manager F.K. Lathrop. On Jan. 28, 1931, the well blew in, capable of producing 18,000 barrels per day, raising the possibility of a single field and launching the oil boom.