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 oil and gas industry as a whole.

The Region

Before this corner of north west Pennsylvania was overtaken in an oil boom, the main industry was lumber. Sawmills were plentiful, and wood could be floated down creeks and rivers to metropolitan destinations.

Oil creek, which snakes through the museum grounds, gained its name long before any oil wells were drilled. Oil seeps along the creek supplied native people and (later) small scale businesses in the area with limited supplies of oil for medicine, water proofing, other purposes. Even today, visitors continue to observe oil bubbling up to the surface of the creek.

The Well

The Drake Well remains as the center piece of the Drake Well Museum. While the structure above ground is a painstaking recreation*, the well itself is the same one that revolutionized the oil industry over a century ago.

It was not until 1859 that Edwin Drake triggered a boom in commercial scale oil collection through his well. Samples of the oil from oil creek had been tested at Dartmouth and Yale for their potential quality in making kerosine. This lead George Bissell and Jonathan G. Eveleth to acquire a farm along oil creek and found the Pennsylvania Rock Oil Company. Edwin Drake was a former railway conductor who invested all his savings in the Pennsylvania Rock Oil Company and traveled to Titusville, Pennsylvania to take an active role in the company. The operation experienced limited success skimming oil off the creek, and a failed attempt to dig a hole–to collect oil– which collapsed and nearly killed workers.  Finally, Drake embraced the idea of drilling for the oil in the same way that was currently being used for salt wells. Oil had already been inadvertently pumped out of the ground by earlier salt wells but it had never been the explicit goal. The process of drilling took months and after others had lost hope by April 1859, Drake took out an additional $500 loan to continue drilling. On August 27, 1859, Drake discovered oil at the surface of the collection barrel. This is considered the birth of the oil industry as Drake had formalized and proven a method of commercial oil collection.

The well itself is 69.5 feet deep and pumped between 12 and 20 barrels a day during its operation.

Drake Well
Drake Well
The Drake Well Steam Engine
The Drake Well Steam Engine

The Museum

The museum encompasses 22 acres around the original Drake well and includes an outdoor collection of drilling equipment and structures along with an indoor collection of artifacts from oil history.

Drake Well Museum
Drake Well Museum
Inside the Drake Museum
Inside the Drake Museum

The indoor section of the museum spans the history of oil from whaling, to the production of petroleum to make kerosene, to the rise of Rockefeller and Standard Oil, to modern day oil drilling. The exhibits highlight regional oil collection, with artifacts from early regional wells and related period industries such as blacksmiths. With the rise of oil established, another room discusses the fine living that was afforded to residence of the region that had prospered from the new boom. Indeed, the first oil millionaire, Jonathan Watson, was a resident of Titusville. Another interactive exhibit explores the monopolistic practices of John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Company and his loud critic, Ida Tarbell.

Petroleum in Early Medicine
Petroleum in Early Medicine
Vanity Fair cartoon commemorating Pennsylvania Oil
Vanity Fair cartoon commemorating Pennsylvania Oil
Oil Field Diorama
Oil Field Diorama
Early Oil Drilling Technology
Early Oil Drilling Technology

Without reservation, the Drake Well and Museum is the most manicured and highest production oil museum we have visited thus far. The facilities are modern, informative, and engaging without sacrificing the value of historic accuracy in its outdoor displays.

Rockefeller and Standard Oil
Rockefeller and Standard Oil
Horizontal Drilling Rig and accompanying tools
Horizontal Drilling Rig and accompanying tools
Crude Oil Distillation display
Crude Oil Distillation
Living In A Boom Town
Living In A Boom Town

The Grounds

The Drake Well Museum is a particular standout for its functioning exhibits. Along with the recreated fully functional steam powered pump at the Drake Well itself, the entire grounds are constantly moving as the operating Central Power Lease demonstrates how a single natural gas powered Olin hit-and-miss engine turning an eccentric gear can be hooked up with rod lines to multiple wells scattered across the grounds.

Eccentric Gear
Eccentric Gear
Olin Hit-And-Miss Engine
Olin Hit-And-Miss Engine

An additional notable structure on the grounds is the Silver Run Pump Station. The station was built in 1894 by National Transit Company and operated through 1968. This station was relocated from Franklin to the museum in 1981, donated by Pennzoil.

Oil Rig
Oil Rig
Big Gears
Big Gears
Display on methods of moving oil
Moving Oil

The museum is a standout combination historic site and collection and deserves ample time to be explored. Make it an afternoon by bringing a picnic lunch to enjoy in the neighboring park or pair with a three hour train ride on the Oil Creek and Titusville Railroad. The train shares a parking lot with the Drake Well Museum and elaborates on the regional oil history.

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More Than History

Like the pictures on this post? Want to have it have a piece of oil history on your wall? Well, we hear you and you can buy a framed print or poster for your home.

Oil Rig
Oil Tower
Posters starting at $12.96
Art prints starting at $18.34

* The structure is based on photographs of the original structure. The current building has been built with such an attention to detail that even the boards have been specially milled to replicate those of the original.

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