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Oil: Impact of a Resource
Background Information for Teachers

Drake's Oil Well
Drake Well Park stands near Titusville, Venango County, on the site where Edwin L. Drake struck oil with the world's first drilled well in 1859. His discovery would launch the modern petroleum industry and have vast implications for the future.
Background Information
Oil had been discovered previous to Drake's Well. Native Americans were already using oil by skimming it from the creeks and streams at the time the first white settlers arrived in the area. A nearby creek was named Oil Creek from this early use. European settlers also harvested and used the oil for a variety of purposes. Oil was reputed to have medicinal qualities, so it was used to treat illnesses in both people and livestock. Settlers also used the oil to grease wagon wheels.
While these early uses of oil did exist, there was no known method of retrieving it from the ground. Instead, people waited until oil floated to the top of water that had seeped into small caves or pits and then skimmed the oil off the top.
Demand for oil rose in the early 1800s, accelerating the search for a more effective way to get it out of the ground. The rise of industry across the county, particularly textile mills, led to a new era of machine-made products, and the machines needed constant lubrication. People were also searching for better and brighter lighting fuel to replace whale blubber and animal oil. These new demands raised the price of a barrel of petroleum from 75 cents to nearly $2.
A technique for drilling for salt had been developed in the early 1800s that hinted at a possible way to extract oil. When salt was drilled out of the ground, it was often coated with oil that made it difficult to use. Thus came the inspiration for drilling for oil.
In 1854, the Pennsylvania Rock Oil Company, the first oil company in America, was founded. Obtaining land in the southeast corner of Crawford County from a lumber company, the Pennsylvania Rock Oil Company sent samples of oil trenched from this land to Yale University for study. While the study yielded promising results for the potential uses of oil, including lighting, the depression of 1857 temporarily halted their plans. During that time, several of the company's stockholders reorganized under the name of the Seneca Oil Company. Leasing the land from the Rock Oil Company, they were now ready to begin an experiment trying to drill for oil.
Edwin L. Drake was hired as the manager for the Seneca Oil Company by James Townsend that same year. Townsend had invested heavily in stock in the Rock Oil Company and had led the reorganization of the Seneca Oil Company. Previously a railroad conductor and now unemployed, Drake had met Townsend in a hotel in New Haven. Drake obviously made a favorable impression on Townsend, who immediately hired him and sent him to Titusville to see first-hand the potential of the leased land. In order to establish Drake's credibility, Townsend dispatched Drake with the honorary title of "Colonel." Upon arriving, Drake witnessed the skimming of oil from Oil Creek, which produced three to five gallons daily. Drake returned to New Haven, met again with Townsend, and then moved to Titusville with his wife and daughter to set up shop and carry out his instructions: to produce oil in quantity. After several unsuccessful months of drilling, Drake decided to try a boring method, as used in the salt drills, to produce oil.
This idea was not a popular one. Little was known about the source of the oil that rose to the surface of the creeks and pits nearby. Many believed it was simply an off-product of underground coal. Few people thought that there were large quantities under the earth. While disheartened, Drake nevertheless spent the winter of 1858 constructing an oil derrick and bought a steam boiler and engine from the Erie City Iron Works. Once completed, Drake traveled south to a town named Tarentum in an effort to hire a driller. There he found William A. "Uncle Billy" Smith, a blacksmith who made tools for the salt well drillers. With Uncle Billy's expertise, Drake started drilling. After the ground collapsed around their initial hole, Drake pounded cast iron pipe into the bedrock, which the drill would go down through. Drilling commenced in the middle of August.
By this time, the company was nearly out of money and had lost hope of obtaining oil. James Townsend had already written Drake letters instructing him to pay any remaining bills and abandon the well. Drake did not respond but instead continued drilling. On Saturday, August 27th, 1859, work stopped after the drill slipped into a crevice at the depth of 69 feet. The next day, Uncle Billy discovered oil floating at the top of the well. "They've struck oil" was heard throughout the area on that day, making the site of Drake Well and the name of Edwin L. Drake part of our history.
The following year produced a run on the land in the region–a veritable "Oil Rush." Drake probably never realized the full impact of his discovery. He left the oil industry a few years later, in 1863, and never received a significant financial gain from his discovery. In 1873, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania granted him a pension for his service in the economic development of the state. Drake died in Bethlehem, where he lived from 1873 until his death in 1880. His remains were moved to Titusville in 1902 and a memorial was erected to his memory.
The Impact of Drake's Well
Drake's Well launched the world's modern petroleum industry. In the years following his discovery, several of the nation's oil companies were born. Oil became the nation's most plentiful and usable supply of energy, providing lighting, lubrication for machinery, and the basis for all modern forms of transportation fuel, including gasoline. Many of the county's most important inventions were made possible by the use of oil as fuel.
The western Pennsylvania oil industry became an economic giant for the state, creating some of the greatest wealth industry had ever seen, including the giant Standard Oil Company. That company controlled virtually all of the oil trade in the state, igniting the passion of Ida Tarbell, a writer who had grown up in nearby Rouseville. A noted writer, Tarbell produced a series of newspaper pieces about Standard Oil, and later published a book on the company in 1904. Tarbell's analysis of the company's practices led to the formation of antitrust and monopoly legislation in America.
The oil industry in western Pennsylvania also produced great tragedy. On June 4, 1892, heavy rains caused a dam to collapse and water raced down the valley toppling oil storage tanks and igniting explosions at refineries in Titusville and Oil City. The spreading fire killed 132 people and destroyed countless homes and businesses.
The birth of the oil industry and the lives of the men who took part in its creation, including Drake, Uncle Billy, and James Townsend are explored at the Drake Well Museum. The Museum also covers the impact of oil on lighting, transportation, and our lives, as well as the work of Standard Oil and Ida Tarbell. The Museum is administered by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission and is open to the public Tuesday-Saturday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 5:00 p.m.

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