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
    Live Fish Surfaces from Deep Inside Pithole Oil Well (Mar. 1866)

    Live Fish Surfaces from Deep Inside Pithole Oil Well (Mar. 1866)

    Mar 31, 2025

    by

    Ryan Hilton

    —

    in This Day in Oil History

    In March 1866, drillers in Pithole, PA, brought up a live, eyeless fish from 616 feet underground—one of the strangest finds of the early oil boom.

    Read more

  • This Day in Oil History
    Oil Producers Defeat South Improvement Monopoly (Mar. 27, 1872)

    Oil Producers Defeat South Improvement Monopoly (Mar. 27, 1872)

    Mar 27, 2025

    by

    Ryan Hilton

    —

    in This Day in Oil History

    In 1872, Pennsylvania oil producers fought and defeated a powerful freight monopoly, securing fair rates and restoring industry confidence.

    Read more

  • This Day in Oil History
    Oil Boom Ignites in Western Pennsylvania (Mar. 24, 1860)

    Oil Boom Ignites in Western Pennsylvania (Mar. 24, 1860)

    Mar 24, 2025

    by

    Ryan Hilton

    —

    in This Day in Oil History

    Oil discoveries near Oil Creek spark a rush of speculation and drilling in 1860, with high-yield wells drawing national attention and massive investment.

    Read more

←Previous Page
1 … 5 6 7 8 9 … 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}