Greenville, Texas, native Luther Bedford "Bob" Robertson (1894-1947), a World War I veteran, came to Matador in the 1920s and, after working as a gas station attendant in 1932, opened a service station here. To promote the business, he built a wooden oil derrick over the station, patented the design, and in 1939 replaced it with an 84-foot steel derrick with lights. A gifted businessman and promoter, Robertson advertised aggressively, kept live rattlesnakes to amuse tourists, and developed that attraction into a zoo with lions, monkeys, coyotes, a white buffalo, and other animals. He also paid long-distance truckers to place signs across the nation giving the mileage to Bob's Oil Well in Matador, making it well known to motorists. As the business prospered, he expanded it to include a grocery, café, and garage. Robertson was also an active civic leader in Matador and took particular interest in honoring those who served in World War II. He died in 1947, and two weeks later a high wind toppled the steel derrick that had become the business's trademark. His widow, Olga (Cunningham), restored it two years later with even larger lights, but the business closed in the 1950s after only a short continuation, and later efforts to reopen it were brief. The site remains a reminder of the early era of bold roadside architecture and of a man who widely promoted his adopted hometown through his business.