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The Historic Heart:
Petroleum Building and Humble Hall of Texas History Site
Slightly to the south east of the train museum is a parking lot. Here, during the Texas Centennial Exposition, the Petroleum Building and Humble's Hall of Texas History was located. This was one of the few Centennial structures demolished after the Exposition was over. During the Expositions of 1936 and 1937 one of the favorite features of this building was its fourteen dioramas "designed and built to present in graphic form the stirring story of Texas' War for Independence and the outstanding features of Texas life from the time of the mission padres until the settlement of the cattle ranches in the western part of the State." The Official Souvenir Guide of the Exposition, from which the above description came, also noted the geological exhibits which were designed to "tell a moving and interesting story of the history of Texas and its geological development." Visitors to the building could also the eight relief maps of Texas sunk into the floor and watch a 20-minute movie called "Under Control," which "graphically portrays industry's fight to bring Nature's most powerful resources under control." Guests could also pick up pamphlets describing the exhibits, one about the oil industry and geological development, the other about Texas history. The front of the building featured a bas-relief by Jose Martin.
The curve of Washington Street, the northern boundary of the parking lot where the Petroleum Building once stood, is the only physical evidence left of the original Fair Park racetrack, laid out in 1886 and torn up some fifty years later.
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