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Name:
The Grandin Well
Region:
Allegheny National Forest Region
County:
Warren
Marker Location:
US 62, .4 miles South of Allegheny River Bridge near Tidioute
Dedication Date:
July 15, 1959
Behind the Marker
After Drake's discovery of oil in Titusville some area residents attempted to sink their own well. The vast majority of such efforts failed. But other townspeople, including Jonathon Watson, continued to pursue potential opportunities.
While residents sunk wells in their back yards or considered their next move, Watson furiously combed the Oil Creek area leasing as much land as possible. It was Watson, representing the Brewer and Watson lumber firm, who leased Drake his famous plot of land. While the rest of Titusville pondered Drake's discovery, Watson hypothesized that oil was readily available from the lowland areas along Oil Creek. He visited each of the 43 German and Scotch-Irish farmers with land bordering the creek and leased part of their land. Most often, he paid them for the lease by agreeing to give them a small portion of any oil produced on the land. By 1871 Watson would become the region's premier oil producer, drilling more than 2,000 wells.
A head and shoulders portrait of J.L. Grandin.
While residents sunk wells in their back yards or considered their next move, Watson furiously combed the Oil Creek area leasing as much land as possible. It was Watson, representing the Brewer and Watson lumber firm, who leased Drake his famous plot of land. While the rest of Titusville pondered Drake's discovery, Watson hypothesized that oil was readily available from the lowland areas along Oil Creek. He visited each of the 43 German and Scotch-Irish farmers with land bordering the creek and leased part of their land. Most often, he paid them for the lease by agreeing to give them a small portion of any oil produced on the land. By 1871 Watson would become the region's premier oil producer, drilling more than 2,000 wells.
Beyond the Marker
