how did edwin drake change the course of history

Edwin Drake was the first person to strike oil in America. His world-famous well was drilled in Titusville, PA, a small town in Crawford County. His innovative method of drilling for oil using an iron pipe not only caused a "black gold rush" but also placed him in the books of oil industry history.

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How did Edwin Drake change the world?

Edwin Drake was the first person to strike oil in America. His world-famous well was drilled in Titusville, PA, a small town in Crawford County. His innovative method of drilling for oil using an iron pipe not only caused a "black gold rush" but also placed him in the books of oil industry history.

What was significant about Edwin Drake?

Edwin Drake, in full Edwin Laurentine Drake, (born March 29, 1819, Greenville, New York, U.S.—died November 8, 1880, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania), driller of the first productive oil well in the United States.

How did Drake discover oil?

27, in 1859, Drake's monomania paid off. He struck oil after drilling 69 ft. into the ground in Titusville, Pa., launching the petroleum age and making Titusville ground zero for the Pennsylvania oil rush. Unlike Ahab (spoiler alert), Drake wasn't destroyed by his discovery — at least not instantly.

Why was the oil well Necessary?

An oil well is a hole dug into the Earth that serves the purpose of bringing oil or other hydrocarbons - such as natural gas - to the surface. Oil wells almost always produce some natural gas and frequently bring water up with the other petroleum products.

Why did Edwin Drake invent the oil drill?

Small amounts of oil had seeped from the ground forever --but no one had figured out how to extract it. Drake tried the usual method, digging trenches -- and failed. He studied the land and speculated about oil deposits. His intuition told him he should drill into the ground, just as salt mining was done.

Who found oil first?

In 1859, at Titusville, Penn., Col. Edwin Drake drilled the first successful well through rock and produced crude oil.

How did oil change the world?

It fuels our cars, it is used in the production of our plastic goods, the electricity for our homes and factories and can even be found in the fertiliser for the soil in which our food grows. Our world is dominated by the need to control oil.

Who struck oil first?

Edwin Laurentine DrakeEdwin Laurentine Drake (March 29, 1819 – November 9, 1880), also known as Colonel Drake, was an American businessman and the first American to successfully drill for oil....Edwin DrakeNationalityAmericanOther namesColonel DrakeOccupationBusinessmanKnown forPetroleum exploration4 more rows

Who was the first person to discover crude oil?

The first oil well drilled was in the town of La Brea, Trinidad in 1857. It was drilled to a depth of 280ft by the American Merrimac Company. The first modern oil well in America was drilled by Edwin Drake in Titusville, Pennsylvania in 1859.

Who invented the oil rig?

Edwin L. DrakeOn August 27, 1859, George Bissell and Edwin L. Drake made the first successful use of a drilling rig on a well drilled especially to produce oil, at a site on Oil Creek near Titusville, Pennsylvania.

Who invented the oil drill?

Edwin Laurentine DrakeEdwin Laurentine Drake (March 29, 1819 – November 9, 1880), also known as Colonel Drake, was an American businessman and the first American to successfully drill for oil....Edwin DrakeNationalityAmericanOther namesColonel DrakeOccupationBusinessmanKnown forPetroleum exploration4 more rows

How did the Drake Well work?

They drove pipe 49 feet into the ground until they struck bedrock and began percussion drilling -- using a steam engine to drive a heavy iron bit into the ground to break the rock. The work was slow going, just a couple of feet a day.

What towns did Drake drill for?

With the spread of Drake’s drilling techniques, Titusville and other northwestern Pennsylvania communities became boomtowns. Drake drilled two more wells for the Seneca company, but he failed to patent his drill-pipe methods and never became a success in oil speculation.

Where is the Drake tomb?

Subscribe Now. In 1901 an executive of the Standard Oil Company paid to erect a monumental tomb in Drake’s honour at a cemetery in Titusville, where Drake’s body was moved.

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Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. ...

Who built the first oil well in the United States?

First oil well in the United States, built in 1859 by Edwin L. Drake, Titusville, Pennsylvania.

The Need for Cheap Indoor Illuminants

The future of oil changed in 1846. Abraham Gessner, who was trained as a physician in England but spent his life in geological work in his native Canada instead, was performing public lectures in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. During one demonstration Gessner showed how oil distilled from bituminous coal could be used to light a lamp.

The Dream Comes Together

Bissell and Townsend trundled on, spewing their plans for most anyone who would listen. One who listened and was intrigued enough to buy a few shares in the enterprise was Edwin Drake, who lived in the same hotel as Townsend. Drake, it was decided, would be the man to helm the first drilling project.

Perseverance, Redemption and Success

He tried a steam engine but the soft sand in the stream continually collapsed around his shaft. With each grim report dispatched to Bissell's office in New Haven, Connecticut the investors clenched the purse strings a little tighter.

How many pages is Edwin Drake's biography?

Commissioned in 2007 by the Oil Region Alliance in Oil City, Pa., to write a new Drake biography, Brice, professor emeritus in geology and planetary science at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, published his 661-page Myth, Legend, Reality – Edwin Laurentine Drake and the Early Oil Industry.

How deep was the Drake drill hole?

On Saturday afternoon on August 27, at a depth of 69.5 feet, the drill bit had dropped into a crevice. Late the following afternoon Drake’s driller, “Uncle Billy” Smith, visited the site “and noticed a very dark liquid floating on top of the water in the hole, which, when sampled, turned out to be oil,” Brice explained.

What was Drake's career?

Career with the Railways. Drake started working as a hotel and dry goods clerk. Later, he joined the ‘Boston and Albany Railroad’ as an agent. In 1850, he began working with the ‘New York and New Haven Railroad,’ serving as a clerk, an express agent, and a conductor .

Where did Drake settle?

After retiring from his job with the railways in 1857, Drake settled in New Haven, a city on Long Island Sound in the state of Connecticut, U.S.A. There, he met George Bissell and Jonathan Eveleth, the co-founders of the ‘Pennsylvania Rock Oil Company.’

Why was Drake hired to Titusville?

It is reported that he was hired for this job because he had retired from the railways and held a free railroad pass that permitted him to travel to Titusville without being charged. In Titusville, Drake procured land on behalf of the company, and after his survey, he stated it was possible to profitably extract oil.

What was the name of the well that Drake was known for?

His methods of extracting oil were thought to be obscure, and he was jeered by many who called him “Crazy Drake” and named his well “Drake’s Folly. ”. However, a determined Drake was not deterred by the discouraging townspeople or the lack of funds.

How many children did Drake have?

Drake married Philena Adams in 1845. They had two children. However, she breathed her last while giving birth to her second child in 1854.

How deep was the well in 1859?

He did not patent his successful methodology. On August 27, 1859, at a depth of 69.5 feet, oil was struck. The output of the well was 12 to 20 barrels per day.

Where is Colonel Drake buried?

Legacy. He was buried in Titusville and had a memorial built in his honor. The first well Drake drilled was named “Drake Well” and is now part of the ‘Drake Well Museum,’ a “National Historic Landmark.”. The 1954 industrial movie ‘Born in Freedom: The Story of Colonel Drake’ was funded by the ‘American Petroleum Institute.’.

What did Edwin Drake do?

His innovative method of drilling for oil using an iron pipe not only caused a "black gold rush" but also placed him in the books of oil industry history. Edwin Drake was born on March 29, 1819 in Greenville, New York. His family later moved to Vermont, which he left at age 19 and did odd jobs for 11 years.

Why did Drake retire?

Drake was forced to retire from the railways shortly thereafter when he became ill with muscular neuralgia. Prior to Drake striking black gold in Oil Creek near Titusville, other investors had tried profiting from the area, although none as successfully as Drake.

How deep did Edwin Drake drill?

In the meantime, primitive methods only allowed Edwin Drake to drill 16 feet deep, neither deep enough to find oil, nor as deep as he was prepared to go: 1,000 feet. In order to overcome the hurdles before him, he invented a "drive pipe" or "conductor," an invention he unfortunately did not patent.

When did Edwin Drake return to Titusville?

Drake did his initial reconnaissance of the area in December 1857 and returned again in 1858 with the title of "Colonel.". Edwin Drake's oil well in Titusville. "Colonel" Drake faced difficulties from the beginning, the known methods of drilling for oil at the time only ended in failure.

When did Drake die?

Drake died in Bethlehem, PA on November 9, 1880, and was later moved to Titusville, where he remains today.

Who was the first oil well?

In 1959, Parke Dickey wrote in his article, "The First Oil Well," "No one is likely to question the fact that it was the Drake Well at Titusville which started the [oil] industry on its spectacular career…". Edwin Drake was the first person to strike oil in America.

Where is the Drake Well Museum?

The original tools that Drake used for Oil Creek Well can be found at the Drake Well Museum in Titusville.

Why do they call it the Drake Well?

“We call it the Drake Well because it was the project manager, Edwin Drake, who kept the project alive in the face of ridicule, derision, starving of his family. He kept the dream alive.”.

How many children did Drake have?

He married and began a family, only to have “unbelievable tragedy” over the space of six years, said Brice, when his wife and three children died between 1848 and 1854. Drake and his surviving child, a 4-year-old son, moved to New Haven, Conn., where they lived in the Tontino Hotel at a cost of $9 a week for room and board. While there, he became acquainted with influential individuals, including George Bissell, a Dartmouth graduate and later superintendent of the New Orleans school system.

Where did Bissell find oil?

Struck by the idea that crude oil, as seen in medicinal and illumination advertising, might be obtained by drilling in the same method used to obtain salt water, Bissell became aware of oil seepages in western Pennsylvania, particularly along Oil Creek. He formed the Pennsylvania Rock Oil Co. of New York in 1854, a company that soon was taken over by a New Haven group led by James Townsend.

Who claimed fame in 1859?

Despite all the personalities involved in the 1859 drilling and production venture, it is Drake who rightfully claims the fame, Brice said.

Did Drake pay for his well?

While the oil company funded the drilling operations, they did not pay Drake, said the speaker, and he was forced to borrow money to feed his family. Within months of his successful well, Drake “was out of a job and began driving horses and wagons hauling oil,” Brice said.

Why did Edwin Drake retire?

Edwin Drake was not a colonel. He was a retired railroad conductor. He had retired early from the rails due to chronic poor health. In 1858, he was offered $1,000 dollars a year to explore the possibilities of finding a cost-effective method of collecting petroleum. Before, there had been no real market for oil, and it was only beginning to be used as an alternative for replacing whale oil in lamps. The only real obstacle to the furtherance of oil use was its time consuming and costly collection. It was gathered when and wherever it was found coming from the earth via small oil springs.

What would happen if Pennsylvania didn't have a Permian Basin?

Because without Pennsylvania, there would be no Permian Basin production. There would be no production at all. We have the oil and natural gas industry because of a small town called Titusville, Pennsylvania. An area there that became known as Oil Creek, is where the oil revolution was really born.