The Phillips and Woodford Wells on Tarr Farm, north of Oil City, Pennsylvania, in 1873.

Boomtown Legacy

Ryan Hilton, Engineer

  • About
  • Bibliography
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • This Day in Oil History
    Titusville Fire of 1866: Arson Sparks Destruction and Reform

    Titusville Fire of 1866: Arson Sparks Destruction and Reform

    Jan 22, 2025

    by

    Ryan Hilton

    —

    in This Day in Oil History

    A destructive fire struck Titusville in January 1866, igniting outrage over arson. Arrests made as citizens demanded justice and better firefighting resources.

    Read more

  • This Day in Oil History
    Petroleum Contaminates Pittsburgh Water Supply, Jan. 20, 1864

    Petroleum Contaminates Pittsburgh Water Supply, Jan. 20, 1864

    Jan 20, 2025

    by

    Ryan Hilton

    —

    in This Day in Oil History

    In 1864, Pittsburgh residents found petroleum in their drinking water, likely from refinery waste in the Allegheny River, raising health and safety concerns.

    Read more

  • This Day in Oil History
    Oil Boom: Pithole Creek’s Great Well & Oil Excitement (Jan. 18, 1865)

    Oil Boom: Pithole Creek’s Great Well & Oil Excitement (Jan. 18, 1865)

    Jan 18, 2025

    by

    Ryan Hilton

    —

    in This Day in Oil History

    January 18, 1865: A 250-barrel well struck on Pithole Creek sparks new optimism about oil’s abundance in Venango County’s growing industry.

    Read more

←Previous Page
1 … 16 17 18 19 20 … 32
Next Page→

Boomtown Legacy

Blogging about 19th-century oil fever in Pennsylvania.


Headshot of Chevron engineer Ryan Hilton.

About the author

I’m Ryan Hilton, a petroleum engineer with Chevron.

Popular Categories

  • Blog (4)
  • This Day in Oil History (93)

Latest Posts

  • Boom, Bust, & Bounce Back: The Oil Region’s Resilience in 1866
  • The Oil Town Cure: Pithole, a Summer Health Oasis? (1866)
  • The Stench of Neglect in Petroleum Centre (1869)
  • Clarion County Wells Strike Oil in May 1865
  • Titusville Citizen Responds to Judge’s Defense of Oil Monopolies

Search the website

Boomtown Legacy

Chevron engineer Ryan Hilton's horizontal website logo.

Copyright © 2025 Ryan Hilton

Menu

  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Contact

Privacy

  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions

Social

  • Twitter/X
  • Pinterest
Manage Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage {vendor_count} vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}