In 1927, Columbus M. "Dad" Joiner believed there was oil in Rusk County. Joiner and an Oklahoma attorney and oil promoter had won and lost two fortunes in oil, and despite nearing age 70, he was beginning another search "without even the proverbial shoestring." With inferior equipment, he drilled his first well on Daisy Bradford's land, about six miles from Henderson to a depth of 1,098 feet before junking the site. His second attempt was also unsuccessful. In January 1930, the third well was started by Joiner about 300 feet from his first attempt. On Sept. 3, 1930, the drill bit struck the Woodbine Sand and the core came up dripping with oil. On Oct. 3, 1930, the Daisy Bradford No. 3 blew in as a 300 barrel-a-day well at a depth of 3,592 feet. Thus began the East Texas Oil Boom.

Pioneer Park, with derrick-covered picnic pavilions, is about six miles west of Henderson on Texas 64 at C.R. 4148. Also in the park is the Joe Roughneck Monument, erected by Lone Star Steel as a memorial tribute to the working men in the oil fields known as "roughnecks."

The site of the Daisy Bradford No. 3 is about a mile north of Pioneer Park on C.R. 4136 and is marked by a 1936 pink granite marker.

Today, the city is part of the National Register of Historic Downtown Squares.