LONGVIEW, Texas (KLTV) – This month marks the 84th anniversary of the Big Inch, a massive pipeline that stretches from Longview to the East Coast and is believed to have changed the course of World War II.
Before the U.S. entered World War II, 95 percent of crude oil delivered to the East Coast was delivered by tanker ships. Ninety percent of that oil came from Texas oil fields. In 1942, many of those tankers were sunk by German submarines.
The U.S. developed a plan for a massive overland oil pipeline, and construction began on the largest pipeline in history up to that time.
“It was one of the first interactions or cooperations between government and private industry. In less than a year, they developed the technology,” said Mark Scirto. “From here in Gregg County across 30 rivers, over 200 lakes and streams, most of it hand dug.”
Measuring 24 inches in diameter, the Big Inch went from Longview to Illinois and eventually to refineries in the East. It allowed the safe and timely transport of oil products to the Allies. During the height of wartime, more than 300,000 barrels of oil were delivered each day over the Big Inch.
“Winston Churchill at the end of the war said that the war was won on a sea of East Texas oil,” Scirto said. “Miraculous that we were able to get this built. That was the single largest contributing factor to the Allies winning World War II.”
The Big Inch was honored with a historical marker in 1990. Part of it still exists today. It is used to deliver natural gas to Philadelphia.
The Big Inch can be found at Martin Luther King Boulevard and Pittman Street in Longview.
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