Books
Bates, Samuel P. Our County and Its People: A Historical and Memorial Record of Crawford County, Pennsylvania. Boston: W. A. Fergusson & Company, 1899. Internet Archive.
Black, Brian. Petrolia: The Landscape of America’s First Oil Boom. Baltimore, Maryland: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2003. Internet Archive.
Blair, John M. The Control of Oil. New York: Pantheon Books, 1976. Internet Archive.
Bone, J. H. A. Petroleum and Petroleum Wells … With a Complete Guide Book and Description of the Oil Regions of Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio, 2nd ed. New York, American News Company; Philadelphia, J.B. Lippincott & Co, 1865. Library of Congress.
Botsford, Harry. The Valley of Oil. New York: Hastings House, 1946. Internet Archive.
Brown, George W. Old Times in Oildom. Oil City, PA: Derrick Publishing Company, 1909. HathiTrust.
Buck, William J. Early Accounts of Petroleum in the United States. Titusville, PA: Bloss & Cogswell, 1876. Lehigh University.
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Carll, John F. Geological Report on Warren County and the Neighboring Oil Regions, with Additional Oil Well Records [Second Geological Survey of Pennsylvania, 1880–1883]. Harrisburg: Board of Commissioners for the Second Geological Survey, 1883. HathiTrust.
Carll, John F. The Geology of the Oil Regions of Warren, Venango, Clarion, and Butler Counties, Including Surveys of the Garland and Panama Conglomerates in Warren and Crawford. Harrisburg: Board of Commissioners for the Second Geological Survey, 1880. HathiTrust.
Carll, John F. Oil Well Records and Levels [Second Geological Survey of Pennsylvania, 1876–1877, Report of Progress II]. Harrisburg: Board of Commissioners for the Second Geological Survey, 1877. HathiTrust.
Carll, John F. “Report of Progress in the Venango County District,” Second Geological Survey of Pennsylvania. Harrisburg: Board of Commissioners for the Second Geological Survey, 1875. HathiTrust.
Carll, John F. Seventh Report on the Oil and Gas Fields of Western Pennsylvania for 1887, 1888. Harrisburg: Board of Commissioners for the Geological Survey, 1890. HathiTrust.
Clark, James A. The Chronological History of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Industries. Houston, Texas: Clark Book Co., 1963. HathiTrust.
Clark, J. Stanley. The Oil Century, From the Drake Well to the Conservation Era. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1958. Internet Archive.
Crum, Alfred Russell. Romance of American Petroleum and Gas, Volume I. New York, NY: Romance of American Petroleum and Gas Co., 1911. Google Books.
Dolson, Hildegarde. The Great Oildorado: The Gaudy and Turbulent Years of the First Oil Rush – Pennsylvania, 1859–1880. New York: Random House, 1959. Internet Archive.
Eaton, S. J. M. Centennial Discourse: A Sketch of the History of Venango County, Pennsylvania, Delivered at Franklin, PA., July 4th, 1876. Franklin, Pennsylvania: Venango Spectator Job Office, 1876. HistoricPittsburgh.org.
Forbes, Robert James. Studies in Early Petroleum History. Westport, Connecticut: Hyperion Press, Inc., 1976. Internet Archive.
Giddens, Paul H. The Beginnings of the Petroleum Industry: Sources and Bibliography. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania Historical Commission, 1941. Internet Archive.
Giddens, Paul H. Early Days of Oil. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1948. Internet Archive.
Giddens, Paul H. Pennsylvania Petroleum, 1750–1872. Titusville: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Drake Well Memorial Park, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 1947. Internet Archive.
Harris, Charles H. History of the Venango Oil Regions … And Other Places of Note in the Oil Regions. Titusville, Pennsylvania: Titusville Morning Herald Print, 1866. Library of Congress.
Hatch, Vernelle A., ed. Illustrated History of Bradford, McKean County, PA. Bradford, PA: Burk Brothers, 1901. Internet Archive.
Henry, J. T. The Early and Later History of Petroleum with Authentic Facts in Regard to the Development in Western Pennsylvania. Philadelphia: Jas. B. Rodgers Co., 1873. Internet Archive.
Henry, J. T. History and Romance of the Petroleum Industry, Volume I. London: Bradbury, Agnew, & Co. Ld., 1914. HathiTrust.
Leonard, Charles C. The History of Pithole by “Crocus.” Pithole City, Pennsylvania: Morton, Longwell & Co., Printers, 1867. Lehigh University Library & Technology Services.
McLaurin, John J. Sketches in Crude-oil: Some Accidents and Incidents of the Petroleum Development in All Parts of the Globe, 3rd ed. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Mount Pleasant Press, 1902. Internet Archive. See also: 1st ed. (1896); 2nd ed. (1898).
McNally, Robert. Crude Volatility: The History and the Future of Boom-Bust Oil Prices. New York: Columbia University Press, 2017. Full text.
United States Department of the Interior. Success at Oil Creek, August 27, 1859. Washington, D.C. : United States Government Printing Office, 1976. HathiTrust.
Vassiliou, Marius S. Historical Dictionary of the Petroleum Industry. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield, 2018. Find a copy.
Von Millern, Alexander. All About Petroleum and the Great Oil Districts of Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, etc.: The Most Complete and Most Reliable Description of This Remarkable Region Ever Issued. New York, New York: Publishers’ Agent, A. Spann, 1864. Google Books.
Whiteshot, Charles Austin. The Oil Well Driller: A History of the World’s Greatest Enterprise, The Oil Industry. Mannington, West Virginia: Charles Austin Whiteshot, 1905. Internet Archive.
Wright, William. The Oil Regions of Pennsylvania: Showing Where Petroleum Is Found; How It Is Obtained, and at What Cost. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1865. Internet Archive.
Yergin, Daniel. The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1991. Full text.
Glossaries
Boone, Lalia Phipps. The Petroleum Dictionary. Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 1952. Internet Archive.
Hitchcock, Roxannne. Lube Lingo. Oil City: Oil Region Books, 1999. Reprint: Oil Region Alliance. Oil & Gas Dictionary of Historical Terminology. Oil City: Oil Region Alliance, 2024. https://oilregion.org/heritage/history-of-oil/.
Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Oil and Gas Well Drilling and Servicing: Glossary of Terms. 2024. https://www.osha.gov/etools/oil-and-gas/glossary-of-terms.
More
Schlumberger. SLB Energy Glossary. 2024. https://glossary.slb.com/.
U.S. Energy Information Administration. Glossary. 2024. https://www.eia.gov/tools/glossary/.
Periodicals
Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, 1877–present. Past issues.
Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania. Western Pennsylvania History, 1918–present. Past issues.
Websites
American Oil & Gas Historical Society (AOGHS) | https://aoghs.org/
Drake Well Museum | https://www.drakewell.org/
Oil History by Samuel T. Pees | https://petroleumhistory.org/OilHistory/OHindex.html
Oil Region Alliance | https://oilregion.org/
Oil Region Library Association | https://oilregionlibraries.org/
Warren County Historical Society | https://www.warrenhistory.org/