SMALL COMMUNITY, BIG HISTORY
The east Texas town of Joinerville may be particularly small in comparison to, say, nearby Henderson but what it lacks in size it makes up in history. Joinerville is located just a few miles shy of one of the most prolific oil fields in American oil boom legacy. It’s also home to the Gaston Museum where you can learn all about life in the East Texas Oilfield, a period that highlights activities from the 1930’s to the late 60s. Memorabilia from the boom era, local family history, and an antique radio display occupy the main museum exhibits. Also on museum grounds, the Sid White family home illustrates boom era life in an oil field tent house. Despite the collapse of the 1930s oil boom, Joinerville and the East Texas Oilfield survived. The field, in fact, continues producing today.