The Texas Company Geophysical Laboratory On Oak St.

[Highrise Tower]

I never knew about Texaco's Geophysical Research Laboratories in Bellaire! Does any of the original buildings still exist? I know when Chevron moved in decades later, they built taller and bigger.

1947 aerial.

In 1952, the architect Charles S. Chase designed a building for The Texas Company.

In 1957 there was a master plan expansion drawn. Not sure if it was ever realized.

[Highrise Tower]

After looking on Google Earth, I must say wow! The Texas Company (Texaco) development was totally separate from when Chevron took control of the land.

The Chevron campus on Fournace Place looks to have been built in the 1970s.

The Texas Company Geophysical Laboratory is said to be located at Rice and Oak Street.

Aerial photograph from 1944:

After a 1953 expansion:

1978, when Chevron took over and built their campus.

[Ross]

The lab was on the same piece as the rest of the Texaco campus there. Chevron took over Texaco in 2001 or 2002. All of the buildings in the bottom picture were built by Texaco. The right angle building at the lower left was the lab, the building with the 5000 Fournace was another lab, the angled building to the right was the Texaco Bellaire Office Building, the building on Fournace just west of that was the Bellaire Annex The other buildings on the West side were research related and mechanical stuff - power, HVAC, etc. Rumor was the parking lot in the middle on the West had a test well with a radiation source that was stuck.

Here's a streetview showing the lab building https://www.google.com/maps/@29.7165642,-95.4677918,3a,75y,35.95h,77.8t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sYchUgaMJOTeS-FU80y4Cvg!2e0!5s20110501T000000!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3DYchUgaMJOTeS-FU80y4Cvg%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.share%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26yaw%3D35.94725370369426%26pitch%3D12.202132678577513%26thumbfov%3D90!7i13312!8i6656?coh=205410&entry=ttu