Joseph Stephen Cullinan

Joseph Stephen Cullinan (December 31, 1860 – March 11, 1937) was a U.S. oil industrialist. Although he was a native of Pennsylvania, his lifetime business endeavors would help shape the early phase of the oil industry in Texas. He founded The Texas Company, which would eventually be known as Texaco Incorporated.

Early life Cullinan was born to John Francis and Mary (nee Considine) Cullinan on December 31, 1860, in Pulaski Township, Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, not far from Sharon, Pennsylvania. His first experience in the oil industry was when he was 14, working as a hand in the Pennsylvania oilfields. He was responsible for various oil-related duties including a distribution station in Oleopolis, Pennsylvania. This broad exposure prepared him well for his future ventures in the industry. When he was 22, he joined an affiliate of Standard Oil and for the next thirteen years, performed various managerial duties.

Cullinan started with a small drilling operation along the Gulf Coast of Texas and had expanded over the years, moving west toward Houston and later pushed east toward New Orleans.

Career Move to Texas Oil was discovered in Corsicana, Texas, in 1894 by accident when a water-well company found petroleum while digging a well for the city. By 1897, production was so great that the city's mayor invited him to guide oil production facility development. The lack of refineries often resulted in dumping of crude oil, a wasteful practice which prompted Texas legislators to enforce regulations on the industry. Using his storage facilities to hold Corsicana crude oil at Sabine, which had a capacity of 37,000 barrels, he enjoyed a significant competitive advantage over other buyers. He was able to purchase large quantities of oil at flush production prices of pennies a barrel. One of the prominent investors in this company was John Warne Gates, a businessman and industrialist from Illinois. The Producers Oil Company at this time focused on oil exploration and supply. Within two months, The Texas Company was formed for transporting and refining crude oil. The relocation established Houston as the epicenter of the oil industry as other oil companies increasingly followed suit. purchased from the estate of George H. Hermann. Cullinan said that his intention was to create a subdivision so that his business acquaintances and friends could live near him. In 1920, Cullinan put the 16-lot subdivision on the market: it sold out within six weeks.

Public life Cullinan had a profound impact upon the city of Houston. In addition to being one of the key supporters for the development of the Houston Ship Channel, he also built the North Side belt railway. He supported venues such as the Houston Symphony Orchestra as well as the Museum of Fine Arts (Houston). He served as president of the Houston Chamber of Commerce from 1913 until 1919. During World War I, he served under Herbert Hoover as a special advisor to the Food Administration.

Death and legacy On March 11, 1937, Cullinan died during a visit with Hoover in Palo Alto, California, where he was overcome with pneumonia. Afterward his interest in Texaco was split six ways between his sister Mary Nicholson and his children, including daughter and philanthropist Nina J. Cullinan.