TL;DR: As oil exploration pressed deeper into Pennsylvania’s interior, Clarion County began to attract serious attention from drillers and investors alike. A May 1865 report from Col. Samuel Young, editor of the Clarion Banner, captures a pivotal moment when the region’s early wells began to show real promise. His firsthand account of operations along Deer Creek and the Clarion River offers a glimpse into the rising excitement that would soon transform this once-quiet territory.
Clarion County’s Oil Boom Begins
The Titusville Morning Herald, May 10, 1865
Col. Samuel Young, editor of the Clarion Banner, is in town, and brings us the following report of oil matters on the Clarion River and Deer Creek. It will be found interesting.
Strong Showing at the Whitehill Well
On Friday last, 5th inst., he visited the new Whitehill well on Deer Creek, and found that pumping operations had commenced with extraordinary results. This well is only down to the second sand rock, and is three hundred and eight feet deep.
The well was yielding about ten barrels of oil per day, and of a very superior quality. The oil is of the same color as the Smith’s Ferry oil, with which it has been compared, and by test is forty-two gravity. The well was increasing rapidly, and the prospect was that a heavier yield would be obtained. This is the first well that has been tubed and pumped in Clarion County. This well is about one-third or half a mile from the mouth.
Heavy Strike on the Fiscorn Farm
Another well, on the Fiscorn Farm, and owned by the Clarion River and Beaver Oil Companies, reached a depth of about four hundred and thirty feet on last Thursday, at which depth a very heavy vein of oil was struck. The well will be tubed in a few days, and fully tested.
Clarion County on the Rise
It is now clear that oil, in paying quantities, will be found on the Clarion and its tributaries. There have been a number of wells put down, and in process of boring on the Clarion and on Deer Creek, with the best possible indications. Clarion territory is on the rise, and the excitement is rapidly increasing.