Allegheny Oil
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Allegheny Oil The Historic Petroleum Industry on the Allegheny National Forest Prepared by Philip W. Ross in partnership with Institute for the History of Technology and Industrial Archeology West Virginia University Originally prepared in August 1994 in fulfillment of a Challenge Cost Share Agreement Eberly College of Arts and Sciences Published in May 1996 with a grant from Michael W. Caplinger, Project Leader the Eastern National Forest Interpretive Association Kevin A. McClung, Delineator for Cover Illustration: The Anchor Oil Company's first well on Lot USDA Forest Service 647, Cherry Grove, June 1882. It became known as the "Burning Allegheny National Forest Well" after it caught fire and burned spectacularly for ten days - Heritage Resources Program while gushing oil at a rate of 2,000 barrels a day. Photo courtesy Drake Well Museum Back Cover: Forest industrial sculpture. Visitors to the forest encounter constant reminders of the area's petroleum heritage. USDA Forest Service Allegheny Oil Table of Contents Preface ................................................................................................................................. i Introduction ...............................•...................................................................................... I 1. Geological Considerations .........................•.....................................................•.......... 7 2. Early Operations, 1859-1874 .....................................•.............................................. 11 Tidioute, 1859- 1867 ............................................................................................. 11 Other Pools in the Early Era ................................................................................. 13 Early Drilling Technology .................................................................................... 13 The Industry Moves South ................................................................................... 1.4 The Belt Theory .................................................................................................... 15 3. The Flourishing Era, 1875-1881 ...................................•..........................•................ 17 Bradford, 1875 ...................................................................................................... 17 Guffey, 1878 ......................................................................................................... 19 Warren, Stoneham, Clarendon, and Tiona ............................................................ 21 The OiJ Market and Oil Exchanges ...................................................................... 23 DrilHng and Production Costs .............................................................................. 24 4. Ascendancy of the Middle Field, 1882-1885 ............................................................ 27 Market Conditions, Early 1882 ............................................................................ 27 Mystery Wells and Oil Scouts .............................................................................. 28 Cherry Grove, 1882 .............................................................................................. 29 Cooper and Ba.lltown ............................................................................................ 35 Wardwell ............................................................................................................... 40 The Shut-Down Movement of 1884 ..................................................................... 41 Kane, 1885 ............................................................................................................ 42 5. Stabilization, 1886-1902 ...................................................•........................................ 45 Changing Trends in Production ............................................................................ 45 Standard Oil's Role .............................................................................................. 46 LocaJ Developments: Deerlick, Watson-Duhring, Klondike ................................ 48 6. Production, 1903-1945 ............................................................................................... 51 National Patterns of Exploration and Production ................................................. 51 New Pools: Lewis Run, Marsh burg, and Queen .................................................. 52 Secondary Recovery ............................................................................................. 52 Water Flooding ..................................................................................................... 53 Gas Drive .............................................................................................................. 54 Natural Gasoline Production ................................................................................ 55 Coda: Music Mountain ......................................................................................... 57 7. Central Power Systems ............................................................................................. 61 Evolution of Pu mping Technology ....................................................................... 61 Prime Movers ....................................................................................................... 67 "Air Leases" ......................................................................................................... 69 Rod Line Central Powers: Engineering Considerations ....................................... 70 Obsolescence and Technological Persistence ....................................................... 75 Bibliography .................................................................................................................... 77 Appendix ......................................................................................................................... 81 Preface The Allegheny National Forest (ANF) is located in northwestern Pennsylva nia, and encompasses some 513,000 acres of Warren, McKean, Elk, and Forest Counties. The modem petroleum industry had its birth just west of this region at Titusville with the drilling of the legendary Drake Well in 1859. Subsequently, the region now encompassed by the boundaries of the ANP was proven to contain numerous oil and gas fields, many of which are still producing today. One hundred and thirty years of petroleum production have left a considerable amount of material culture scattered throughout the region, artifacts which have heretofore attracted little attention from the historical community. This is somewhat surprising given the level of interest in oil folklore and history in the Oil Region today. In the Fall of 1993 the Institute for the History of Technology and Industrial Archaeology at West Virginia University entered into a cooperative agreement with the Allegheny National Forest to evaluate the historical significance of the petroleum industry within the forest boundaries. Much of the material culture left behind by the industry consists of the components of "central power" pumping systems in various stages of deterioration, mostly dating to the early part of this century. Since these artifacts have now entered into the realm of "cultural resources," it has become incumbent upon the resource managers of the Allegheny National Forest to judge what among this scattered collection of machinery is historically significant and thus might require preservation of some sort. Such an evaluation would allow the ANP to focus its efforts in preservation and documentation on those sites which most deserve such treatment. The following monograph includes both a narrative contextual history of the subregional petroleum industry and a detailed technological history of the development of the central power system, a process that enabled the continued local production of oil on a rational economic basis-thereby consolidating and stabilizing a regional processing and refining industry. As the remains of central power systems are so prevalent in the ANF-and since so little work has been done on their history-this report takes a detailed look at the development of the various components of central power systems. The history of each major type of equipment found on the ANF is discussed and placed within its context in the ii Alleglm1y Oil regional and national petroleum industry. We wish to thank all those persons who contributed their time and expertise to this project. Dr. Emory Kemp. Director of the lnstiwte for the History of · Introduction Technology and industrial Archaeology, was instrumental in his support for this research. Billy Joe Peyton kept the scope of work under control and on some approximation of irs schedule. At the Allegheny National Forest, Rick Kan~are When Edwin Drake's well tapped a stray oil sand on Oil Creek near gave unselfishly of his time, even to the point of working on Saturday of his Titusville, Pennsylvania, in August 1859, his discovery prompted scores of Memorial Day weekend holiday. Thus thanks are also due to his wife Pam and would-be oil men to seek land likely to produce the liquid mineral. ln the son Cody. Janeal Hedman of the lnfom1ation Resources Team at ANF bas following months dozens of wells were drilled, dug, and kicked down over a patiently shepherded this monograph through its lengthy transformation from a wide area from western New York to western Virginia and southeastern Ohlo. simple project report