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 C.S. Nicks
N 32° 31.484 W 095° 38.267
15S E 252239 N 3601668
Texas Historical Marker noting that Charles Sparkman Nicks, Sr., put Van and parts of East Texas on the map with his photos of early oil strikes and other notable events. He also had some success as an inventor.
Waymark Code: WMPYFB
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 11/10/2015
Views: 4
Marker is located in Van, TX, in a small park on the north side of TX 16 (W Main Street), just a bit west of its intersection with TX 110 (N Maple Street).
Marker Number: 17489
Marker Text:
(February 1888 - July 24, 1972)
Charles Sparkman Nicks was a photographer with a dream, ambition and a talent for inventions. His photographs of the discovery of oil in 1929-1930 Van, Texas, document the birth of this new oil town and preserve its history for future generations. Nicks was born in Tennessee but, in 1900, the family relocated to Galveston, where two brothers, Allen and Eliga, were employed as photographers. When C.S. was 27, he married Jenny Christian and, during World War I, he opened his own photography studio in Nashville, Tennessee. He was offered a better-paying job at Socony Vacuum Company taking pictures of new service stations. While there, C.S. developed a device to accurately measure gasoline. Nicks also developed, along with a fellow engineer, a portable darkroom and a digital read-out meter for gasoline pumps.
Nicks lost his savings in the financial crash of 1929. Seeking employment, he joined his brother, Allen, a photographer in Tyler. Oil had just been discovered in nearby Van, so Nicks opened a studio there. He was the only professional photographer to document Van's oil discovery and development as a town. He took part in all civic activities and was an organizing officer of the Lions Club. C.S. Nicks captured the visual history of oil drilling, oil field fires, the confusion and people of boom-town Van and other East Texas towns that would otherwise be lost to time and memory. With his camera he left behind evidence that will live on through his photographs and provide proof of the effort, joys and hardships of the people who influenced the formation of Van. (2013)
Marker is Property of the State of Texas
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