LIBRARIES, MUSEUMS & CULTURAL SERVICES DEPARTMENT
Oil Museum of Canada
2423 Kelly Rd., Box 16
Oil Springs, ON N0N 1P0
Telephone: (519)834-2840
Fax: (519)834-2840
www.lambtononline.ca
WE’RE LAMBTON COUNTY PROUD!
Lambton ‘Oil Firsts’ in Canada and the World:
1852 World’s first petroleum company established
1858 First commercial oil well in North America.
Canada’s first production of crude oil.
World’s first speculative oil boom.
1858 First commercial oil refinery in Canada.
World’s first integrated oil company established.
1860 Canada’s first successful drilled oil well.
1859 The first oil periodical in Canada established.
1860 Greatest flowing well in Canada’s history.
1860 World’s first Oil Exchange opens for trading.
1862 Canada’s first oil gusher launches the second oil boom.
1863 Fairbank invention of the jerker line system to pump multiple wells.
1866 First well ‘torpedoed’ with nitro-glycerine in Canada
1880 Founding of Imperial Oil refineries at Petrolia and London.
Fairbank Oil becomes Imperial Oil’s largest supplier of crude.
1914 First gas gusher drilled in Canada.
1955 Chemical Valley becomes the largest petrochemical complex in the Commonwealth
1955 Canada’s first secondary oil recovery program
1982 North America’s first natural gas trading hub.
1989 First attempt to mine oil in Canada.
The world’s longest-producing oil family continues at Oil Springs, operating the world’s longest-producing oil field.
thanks to Robert Tremain for sending the above item
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For more information
Oil Museum of Canada
Oil Springs, Lambton County, Ontario
| 1851 |
Charles Nelson Tripp of Woodstock, Ontario, joined with his brother and businessmen from Hamilton and New York City to form the International Mining and Manufacturing Company for the purpose of producing asphalt from the Ontario gum beds situated in Enniskillen Township. This was the first oil company formed in North America. Its charter empowered the company to explore for asphalt beds and oil and salt springs, and to manufacture oils, naphtha paints, burning fluids, varnishes and related products. (Charles Nelson Tripp in
the Canadian Petroleum Hall of Fame) |
| 1856 |
James Miller Williams, a manufacturer of railway carriages at Hamilton, bought Tripp's land and oil rights. Tripp stayed on the payroll as landman. |
| 1857 |
James M. Williams formed the J.M.Williams Company
. After unsuccessful attempts at commercial production from the gum beds
Williams hand-dug and cribbed a well 49 feet deep. It did not reach bedrock
but produced as much as 150 gallons per hour by hand pump. The oil was refined
for illuminating oil and lubricants. |
| 1858 |
Stagnant algae-ridden water lay almost everywhere and, looking for better drinking water, Williams dug a well a few yards down an incline from his asphalt plant. At a depth of 20 metres, the well struck free oil instead of water. In 1858 it became the first COMMERCIAL oil well in North America, remembered as J.M. Williams No.1 at Oil Springs, Ontario |
| 1860 | Williams eventually abandoned his Oil Springs refinery
and transferred his operations to Hamilton, Ontario. In 1860, the local
newspaper carried his ad: "Coal oil for sale, 16 cents per gallon for quantities
from 4000 to 100 000 gallons." Willimas reincorporated his firm as
The Canadian Oil Company and operated facilities for
petroleum production, refining and marketing - a mix that qualifies his
company as the first integrated oil company in the world. |
| 1862 | On February 19, 1862, Hugh Nixon Shaw
of Cooksville, Ontario, struck oil at 48 metres at Oil Creek, Enniskillen
County, Ontario. This was Canada's first gusher, estimated to be
good for 3,000 barrels per day. |
| 1870 | By 1870 Canada was exporting oil to Europe and had about
100 refineries in operation. |
Please find here a ca. 1866 New York Times detailing the Petroleum Fields of Oil Springs, Canada West. I purchased the paper in it's entirety.
The article has been scanned in 2 pieces. If I'm good, maybe someday this will be typed out and I can include it as a text document. Click on the exerts for the article in it's entirety.
editor's collection
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Here are some Oil Springs pics that I have. Our intention is to develop this page further but this is what there is so far.
More history and pics in the near future.
On a rainy Monday morning I had the pleasure of taking a tour of the Fairbank Oil Property with Sylvia Fairbank sister of Charles Fairbank proprietor. The main focus were the Folk Art Statues done by Murray Watson of Oil Springs Ontario. Here for your enjoyment are the statues that represent the Fairbank family and past and present staff. These statues are on display near Oil Springs Oil Museum for all to see. To see these magnificent works of art travel to Oil Springs Ontario and stop in at the first Oil Museum in the world.
For great Oil Springs pics check out Marcus Wandel's website.
http://wandel.ca/oil/
first oil well first oil well first oil well first oil well first oil well first oil well first oil well first oil well first oil well first oil well first oil well first oil well fist oil well first oil well first oil well first oil well first oil well first oil well first oil well first oil well first oil welll first oil well
oil gusher oil gusher oil gusher oil gusher oil gusher oil gusher oil gusher oil gusher oil gusher oil gusher oil gusher oil gusher oil gusher oil gusher oil gusher oil gusher oil gusher oil gusher oil gusher oil gusher oil gusher oil gusher oil gusher oil gusher oil gusher oil gusher
oil museum oil museum oil museum oil museum oil museum oil museum oil museum oil museum oil museum oil museum oil museum oil museum oil museum oil museum oil museum oil museum oil museum oil museum
All of these pics and more are from my own collection and from our contributors. If you would like to become a contributor, I just need a few minutes to scan what you have or send me your own scans.
Email Martin at martyd@ebtech.net