Oil on the Brain: The Discovery of Oil and the Excitement of the Boom in Northwestern Pennsylvania

ISBN-10: 0974465798
ISBN-13: 9780974465791
Series: Oil on the Brain
Category: Clarion County (Pa.)
Pages: 308
Language: English
Published: 2003-01-01
Author: Gary S. McKinney

Description

Gary McKinney has revised and expanded his first edition about Clarion County to include the oil region of Northwestern Pennsylvania. He entices the reader further into the fascinating history of the early days of oil discovery in the United States. It boasts of 85 more pages with over 80 new photos, maps and illustrations. Plus, township maps, personal biographical sketches and business directories have been added - an important source for genealogical family research. This second edition, even more, brings the importance of the Titusville connection to the hunt for crude. Many of the world?s first true oil men hailed from Venango County, Pa. From there, Western Pennsylvania ?Wildcatters? such as Watson and Bayne, Galey and Guffy discovered, developed and followed the great oil fields on through Clarion County and all across America. Jonathan Watson?s right-hand man S. G. Bayne; Edwin C. Bradley; and John Fertig, mayor of Titusville, all tell their forgotten stories. The smell of crude oil fresh from the ground was a powerful lure. Everyone was afflicted with ?Oil on the Brain? and great excitement followed each new find. Boom towns grew and died; personal fortunes were built and lost. Nowhere were the vast pools of oil safe: Titusville and Petroleum Centre to Parker?s Landing, from Greece City to Bradford. Onward they drilled, Oklahoma to Texas, ?Spindletop? to California. This 309-page hardcover history is a fresh and interesting look at the old time oil business, and contains over 300 photographs, maps and illustrations. OIL ON THE BRAIN will arouse the interest of any reader living in today?s oil-dependent world. The author explains, ?It was my intention to write a history that was interesting, light and readable by everyone.?