For almost 100 years, the town was dependent on the rich surrounding farmland and ranches. Then, the Texas oil boom came just as the Great Depression was taking down other towns and cities. Seguin could raise enough tax money to match the federal grants for "make-work" projects. The New Deal transformed the city's public face with Art Deco-style city hall, courthouse, jail, and fountain, as well as storm sewers, sidewalks, and three swimming pools (one for Anglos, one for Blacks, one for Hispanics). The town commemorated its centennial by opening Max Starcke Park, with a golf course, a pavilion, picnic tables, and BBQ pits along a scenic river drive, and a curving dam that created a waterfall.