The spark finally occurred at Titusville, Pa., on the site of a famous oil seep that had been exploited by the Moundbuilders and later by the Seneca Indians and the early settlers. The combination of a large and growing demand for oil, a well-developed refining industry and a highly developed drilling technology provided an explosive mixture. It was inevitable that this new source of oil should come to the attention of the coal oil refiners, and that attempts should be made to produce oil by drilling. At most of these it was used to illuminate the plants and grease the machinery. Petroleum was produced along with the brine at nearly all the salt manufacturing plants. A drilling technology had developed, and the methods of cable tool drilling were mostly invented between 18 along the Kanawha, Muskingum, Conemaugh and Allegheny rivers. The brine was obtained from sands at depths up to 1,000 ft. It was soon found that petroleum was superior to coal as a raw material, but it was a scientific curiosity, occurring in many places, but in small quantities.Īt the same time along the tributaries of the Ohio River a considerable industry had grown up around the manufacture of salt. In the 1850's an industry based on the production of illuminating oil from coal was growing rapidly, and a refining technology utilizing thermal cracking and distillation was well developed. ![]() ![]() The demand for oil for lubricating the machinery and illuminating the factories had been supplied from tallow and whale oil. 27, 1859, was spectacular and its later history has been colorful and romantic.ĭuring the early part of the last century the industrial revolution was in full swing.
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