Panhandle–Plains Historical Museum

In case there was any question about the subject matter of the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum, the 100 cattle brands decorating its entrance and iconic old oil derrick should remove any doubt. This is a history museum for and about northern Texas. Located in Canyon, just south of Amarillo, on the West Texas A&M University campus,…

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Phillips Petroleum Company Museum

In Bartlesville, Oklahoma is a memorial to an industry giant born from the oilfields in Oklahoma.  The Phillips Petroleum Company Museum is a two story structure filled with artifacts, dioramas, and tales of the history of Phillips Petroleum from the early speculation in the Oklahoma oil fields to the 66ers basketball team. The Company Phillips Petroleum Co. was founded…

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Pithole City Visitors Center

Only a few miles from the Drake Well Museum is the remains of a remarkable oil boom town that went bust in less than two years of existence. Pithole, Pennsylvania was initially farm land before oil was pumped out of Drake’s Well. With the discovery of a process to extract petroleum from the ground at…

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Drake Well Museum

Pennsylvania might not be the first place one thinks of when considering oil, but it was the first place that oil was drilled in America. On August 27, 1859, in Titusville, Pennsylvania next to Oil Creek, Edwin Drake completed the first commercial oil well. The Drake Well Museum preserves the original well and celebrates the…

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Department of the Interior

While the Department of the Interior’s (DOI) scope and presence spans across the country, its main offices are found in Washington DC. There, a grand building has been the hub of public land management since its construction was completed in 1936. Along with offices, the building houses a museum and an extensive collection of murals…

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Howard Hughes Sr. & The Two-Cone Rotary Drill Bit

Before Howard Hughes Jr. was flying airplanes and making movies, his father Howard Hughes Sr. was revolutionizing the drill bit market. Though his father was a judge, Hughes Sr. dropped out of Harvard and the University of Iowa College of Law. Instead, Hughes became an entrepreneur with many failed endeavors before he stuck on a winning…

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Understanding Maps

The time has come for an overhaul of our mapping services to clear the way for further development of handy tools for our users. As such, this month we have rolled out a new map format to better allow our users to quickly peruse oil & gas leases by disposition. In order to keep the…

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Hathaway Ranch & Oil Museum

Nestled in the middle of a block of industrial buildings in Santa Fe Springs is a time capsule of ranching and oil life from the yearly twentieth century. The Hathaway Ranch & Oil Museum is 5 acres of historic buildings and artifacts from the Hathaway family’s work in cattle ranching, water, and oil drilling. Artifacts…

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Olinda Oil Museum & Trail

The Olinda Oil Museum & Trail spans 12 acres and preserves the first (and still) operating Olinda oil well, a records vault, a yard of old equipment, and the operation’s field house, which now houses a small museum open on Sunday’s and Wednesdays. The museum is located in present day Brea, a city named from the spanish word…

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