08/27/2026
On August 27, 1859, one hundred and sixty-seven years ago today, a driller named William 'Uncle Billy' Smith visited the well he had been working on for months near Titusville, PA, to check it before heading out for a fishing trip with his sons. To his surprise, the well had finally struck oil at 69½ feet! He immediately notified the well supervisor, Edwin L. Drake, who then sent the news to his superiors in Connecticut at the Seneca Oil Company. The well began producing so much oil that they ran out of containers to hold it – keep in mind, this was before the invention of oil barrels, tank cars, and pipelines! News of 'Drake’s Well' quickly spread, sparking an oil boom in western Pennsylvania that would last for decades.
The early petroleum industry grew from that first well, which was the world's first commercially successful oil well. Our region witnessed the world’s first oil exchange, the first successful pipeline, the first use of tank cars on railroads, and many other innovations that are now taken for granted in the industry. Over the years, we were the headquarters or starting points for many major oil companies, including Pennzoil and Quaker State Refining Corporation. Just think...a little well in rural northwestern Pennsylvania started what is now a global enterprise with major influence on our everyday lives!
