Petrolia
Discovery Oil Museum
Before
there
was OPEC, lipstick and nylons, Iran and Alberta and even Titusville and
Colonel Drake there was Petrolia and OIl Springs Ontario Canada. Here
is
where the world's oil industry started. In an age when few people
traveled
past the borders of their own counties, the pioneer oilman went out
from
the wilderness of Southeastern Ontario to discover most of the major
oil
fields of the world. They were on the Gobi Desert and in the Arctic, in
Iran when it was Persia, Indonesia, Australia, and Russia+87 counties
in all. In the 1920s, Hard Oilers brought home Alberta Tar Sands to
pave
the streets of Petrolia.
Today oil is still pumping in the Oil Springs and Petrolia fields
driven
by a central power plant with jerker rods reaching out to each well,
just
as it was in the early ca.1850s. At Petrolia , such a field comprising
of 60 acres has been set aside as a living museum, a major historic
recreational
exhibit. Here wells are being restored and the visitor will see crude
oil
as it was drawn from the ground from the beginning. The Petrolia
Discovery
gives its visitors a deeper appreciation of those Canadian pioneers who
struggled to understand and control a natural resource. You will see
the
workshop and training ground and working wells and equipment of the men
who over 140 years ago created one of the biggest businesses ever in
the
world. The Oil Business. Come to Petrolia Discovery and see it as it
was. The pics below
illustrate
how a small Oil Village like Petrolia looked ca.1850s or 60s
COME AND SEE THIS
AMAZING AND MAGNIFICENT LIVING MUSEUM
On
the way in on the West side one sees a view of the Bear Creek covered
bridge.
All
of these pics and more are from my own collection and am always looking
for pre 1920s Petrolia pics of anything to buy or borrow for copying.
If
you have pictures that I can borrow I only need a few minutes to scan
them.
Email
Martin of Petrolia Ontario Canada at martyd@ebtech.net
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