27, 1859, the method proved successful when his driller struck oil 69.5 feet below ground. His mission was to find and produce crude. The oil industry in the United States began in 1859 when retired railroad conductor Edwin L. Drake and the Early Oil Industry" will be published this year.ĭrake's genius was to drive pipe into the ground so debris wouldn't clog the drill hole. Drake traveled to Titusville, Pennsylvania, in 1857 as an agent of the Seneca Oil Company of Connecticut. Black gold is an informal term for oil or petroleum black because of its appearance when it comes out of the ground, and gold because it made everyone involved in the oil industry rich. "As they say, sometimes the good we do benefits others and not ourselves, because he certainly benefited others from his work," said William Brice, a University of Pittsburgh emeritus professor, author of a book on Drake and the early oil industry. In his later years, he relied on the good will of friends and a state pension given late in life to recognize the millions of dollars in tax revenue Pennsylvania made thanks to his drilling method. His success launched an Oil Rush and brought the world a new energy source. ![]() Drake, right, stands with his friend Peter Wilson of Titusville. ![]() ![]() He is popularly credited with being the first to drill for oil in the United States. After fire destroyed his well two months after it found oil along Oil Creek, Pennsylvania, Edwin L. TITUSVILLE - The oil boom that began 150 years ago in this small northwestern Pennsylvania town changed the world and made countless people rich, but not the man who found the way to successfully extract black gold from the earth.Įdwin Laurentine Drake died an invalid, confined to a wheelchair and virtually penniless. On March 29, 1819, Petroleum entrepreneur Edwin Laurentine Drake, also known as Colonel Drake, was born. Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders.
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