Pennsylvania, colonial and federal : a history, 1608-1903 . ccupation was doomed, and finally in the springof 1866 the Governor of the State was called on to protect prop-ertv and workmen of the lines. \an Syckels first line was onlyfour miles long, extending from Pit Hole to the railroad, but itwas only a short time before others were laid to Oil Creek andother points, so that in 1873 there were nearly miles inoperation. A few of these operated by gravity. It was inevitable under the circumstances that every acre-ofland in western Pennsylvania on which there was the slightestprobability
Pennsylvania, colonial and federal : a history, 1608-1903 . ccupation was doomed, and finally in the springof 1866 the Governor of the State was called on to protect prop-ertv and workmen of the lines. \an Syckels first line was onlyfour miles long, extending from Pit Hole to the railroad, but itwas only a short time before others were laid to Oil Creek andother points, so that in 1873 there were nearly miles inoperation. A few of these operated by gravity. It was inevitable under the circumstances that every acre-ofland in western Pennsylvania on which there was the slightestprobability of drilling a producing well would be greedily leasedor purchased. The business grew and spread with almost in-credible rapidity. The little hamlets along Oil creek became pop- 444 Natural Resources nloiis cities, and on some of the farms wlierc there liad lieen nosettlement at all, villages sprang into existence almost in a day,and grew into active bnsiness centers in a few weeks. Pit HoleCity, Rouseville, Petroleum Centre and others in X^enango Drakes ImtsI U I J Weil Dcvtli 69 I-J feet; average daily production forone year, 20 barrels; drilling commenced MayJO, 1859; finished August 27, 1859. Engravedespecially for this work from a negative madeby John A. Mather, August 17, 1861 with Tidi(jute and Enterprise in the southern part of Warrencounty, all became active points of business of all kinds, theirstreets teeming with a throng of ambitious, eager, and excitedmen. Pit Hole City from a single farm house in May. 1863,became a city of 15,000 inhabitants by September of the sameyear, with most modern ])ul)lic and i)ri\ate institutions. Ihefirst i)roducing well at that point ga\e 800 l)arrels per dav and 445 Pennsylvania Colonial and Federal lunulreds of others followed rapidh, many of them of far greatercapacity. To-day the place is deserted, the supply of oil in thatimmediate region haxing first gradually diminished and thenfailed altogether. The same general statem
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