Oil & Gas Museum News

MUSEUM AND PARK PROGRESS DURING 2002

BURNING SPRINGS PARK

Much of this year has been spent treading water in building the park. This resulted from the provisions in the pending $98,000 grant that we have received from the U S Dept. of Transportation for scenic byways improvement projects. This is an "In-kind" grant and until we receive final approval of the project and its details, nothing that we do will count toward the "In-kind" match. In other words, while they are giving us $98,000, we have to either put up 20% cash or an equivalent donated time or materials to receive the $98,000. Our match will primarily be volunteer time, and we must wait to do the time (work), since no match time counts until final approval of the grant. So, we have pretty much put the park in limbo, waiting for approval. We hope that happens soon because we want to get the park open this coming summer.

We also have received notice that we are to receive West Virginia budget digest funds for the park and museum, but they haven't come through either. So we wait, with frustration!

In the meantime we are getting ready. Bob Radabaugh of S & R Gas Ventures has visited the park, has taken samples and is working on details to get us set up with a permit to operate the Rathbone Well.

We have moved materials in place and will be ready to go when they give us the word to start. The Wirt County Commission has pledged their support for the park. While they don't have money to give, they do have willing manpower. They have arranged with the Doddridge County jail to have trustee prisoners brought to the park to help. Many other local people have offered to help.

This summer we held a board meeting at the park and cooked steaks on our gas grill. The natural gas for the grill supplied from the Rathbone Well and it sure made the steaks taste better.

A couple of weeks later we hosted the Directors, Advisors and Volunteers for a cookout and the hamburgers and hot-dogs were also cooked using gas from the Rathbone Well. Only problem was that we had to pump the well to keep the gas pressure up to get the cooking done. This was our first test of our new parking lot and we were able to park 24 cars and trucks. That's not bad when you remember that the one year ago the lot was a forty foot ravine full of trees and a creek.

These functions gave everyone a chance to see first hand what we are doing and what we plan. I think everyone enjoyed these park functions.

LAND ACQUISITION

We learned recently that Burk, Parsons and Bowlby were going to sell the 400' of riverfront property adjoining our lots downstream at Burning Springs. We are making arrangements to acquire this property but nothing is finalized, but they have agreed to sell to us ahead of others. This is an important acquisition as we need the protection from encroachment and we need the property for "riverwalk trail". One of the big assets of the park is the river, and having additional frontage is a big plus. It is not unusual that visitors want to go down and just sit along the river, fish along the river or just take a walk. Having this additional land is important.

CIVIL WAR

One of the more important and distinctive displays in the museum is our Civil War Room, which contains many important items. It is probably one of the best civil war collections in the state, outside Harpers Ferry. We have, for example, one of the oldest real-photographs taken in the state of a Civil War scene in Parkersburg in August of 1861. It is a regimental scene along the original tracks of the B & O Railroad, showing the 18th Indiana Regiment on their way to the war front in Virginia.

We have now acquired another original real-photograph of the steamer "Ohio #3", which I learned was the steamboat that carried Col. Steedman's troops from Marietta to invade Parkersburg on May 27, 1861. We had been given the photograph a year or so ago and until recently, we didn't know its significance. At the beginning of the war, Gen. McClelland was in Cincinnati and had given orders that no troops were to cross into enemy territory -that is, Virginia. The movement of the troops on this steamboat were the first to move on Virginia and was considered an invasion of sorts. The purpose was to protect the B & O railhead at Parkersburg and assure the railroad remained in northern hands. We also received an original copy of Leslie's weekly (Time magazine of the period) with a full page artist's sketch of the invasion, showing the Ohio Regimental flag on the tower of the B & O office. It is interesting to note that this Lithograph of the landing was not published until August of 1861, 2 -1/2 months after the event.

Further, the collection now contains a civil war rifle with bayonet, which was owned and use by a Colonel Moore from above Marietta.

An impressive collection!

We also have put together a slide presentation titled Parkersburg and The Civil War in which we tell the story of the War's impact on Parkersburg and the Oil Industry, the further impact on West Virginia politics and the creation of the state - obviously heavily influenced by the Burning Springs bonanza.

0IL & GAS HISTORY SYMPOSIUM

Last year I announced that we had attended as a presenter the first Oil & Gas History Symposium held in Titusville close to the famous Drake Well site. We presented the history of the Burning Springs anticline and told of our efforts with the museum and park. We were treated wonderfully, and have now been asked to host the symposia in 2004 in Parkersburg and Burning Springs. We have accepted and the Board has agreed to be host. We plan to put on a real show and we hope we can get volunteers from around the state to help us out. Retired head of the WV Geologic Survey Larry Woodfork will co-chair the event so we should get some help from Morgantown.

LOCAL INDUSTRY

In the last two years we have been building our collection of history and artifacts from local Parkersburg industries, many of which were oil and gas, for example The Parkersburg Rig & Reel, Acme Fishing Tool and PARPUIACO. However, we are also including non oil and gas industries (although they are big gas users), e.g. glass and plastics.

Union Insulating

This company came Parkersburg in about 1910 to make electric fixtures with a compound called Bake-a-lite. It was started by the Parker family I and was very successful. It was merged with GTE (purchased by GTE) in the 1970's and has since closed. We set out to find a collection and got a wonderful reception from the last local owner, Edith Cather, who still resides in Parkersburg. She had saved many pictures, catalogs and artifacts from the company. Edith's husband Bill Parker had died at a young age and she, with two boys to raise, became president and actively ran the company for many years. It participated in both national and international markets.

Almost at the same time, we were contacted by the retired sales manager of UI, Mr. Guy Smith who now lives in Davis, WV and Florida. He brought in a wonderful, collection of product samples that he had collected over the years. When added to a small collection donated by the Dave Kinney family of Parkersburg, we now have a remarkable collection. Just a few months ago. I was contacted by the daughter of long time COO of the company Lewis Palmer and she and her mother, who has been a long time member and supporter of the museum, also has a collection of papers and artifacts.

So we have gone from almost nothing to a truly significant representation. I am informed that there are also other collections out there that will be offered. To give you some idea of the significance of this company to Parkersburg, the employment at its height was over 300.

A. B. Chance

Another local industrial plant, which came to Parkersburg about 1913, was named Porcelain Products. Their product was electric insulators for the power transmission industry. Made from clay, this plant employed around 250 people. Long time member and friend, Joe Ross had given me a small collection that his grandfather had saved of some of the original product. His grandfather had come here when the plant was first built and was its first superintendent. Then we acquired a few items here and there. However, this summer we got a call from a long time employee who not only had collected many items, but he was the last man out when it closed. His name is Steve Bailey, and he told me to come with a truck. I did, and I wasn't sure one truckload would do it. He had pictures, slides, film, employee lists, and some old ledger books. He even had a real "claymore" land mine made by the company for the Army during WW II. Again, we now have a remarkable
collection from this now vanished company.

DON B. LOWE ROOM

This new addition to the Museum was made this summer in time for the 85th reunion of Scout Troop 3 in Parkersburg. Don B. Lowe was the scoutmaster from 1917 to 1972. He was a wonderful leader and four of the charter Board Member of the Museum were members of the troop and it is likely that Don's influence on us also influenced our building the museum, as we have all been lifelong friends. I refer to Paul Hoblitzell, Bob Tebay, his son Rob, and myself. Don gave his life to scouting and in the process documented the troop's history with literally thousands of pictures. At one time, there was a Sea Scout Ship and the troop still owns the Sea Scout Base on the Ohio River. In it history, there have been over 1OOO members since 1917 and 114 Eagle scouts. Over 150 members returned for the reunion and the oldest, at 97, welcomed the youngest, at 11. While this room has nothing to do with the Oil & Gas Industry, it pays tribute a wonderful institution, which has instilled sound values in so many men in the world. It is interesting though, that when I went through Don's papers I found a set of maps taped together with a line drawn from Burning Springs to above Marietta, labeled "the break", showing the Burning Springs anticline, and I am sure that he probably told us about the oilfields where we camped and hiked on the Hughes and Little Kanawha River. I think you will be impressed with this new addition on the second floor. Much of this was paid for by donations from troop members who are also supporters of the museum.

HISTORY

Obviously, history is what we are all about and I try to address something new with each issue. Since we are playing catch-up with our neighbors in Pennsylvania, I have always said that we will slowly uncover most of our lost history. And that is happening! In the past year we have had some wonderful discoveries: First, we made email contact with descendants of the man by the name of S. P. Wells, who came to Burning Springs as President of the Rathbone Oil Company in 1865. They have in their possession letters that he wrote to his family from Burning Springs and Parkersburg. S. P. Wells was not only responsible for the oilfield, but we believe he was also responsible for building the locks and dams for the Little Kanawha Navigation Company, to allow year round navigation to and from Burning Springs and Parkersburg. This is an historic find and we hope to learn much more from this source.

The next item that we acquired are the books from a general store in Burning Springs for the year 1861. We do not have a name for the store but the ledger books are a complete record of purchaser from the store, a description of the items purchased and the price. This is a wonderful reference as it gives the names of at least those who dealt there in this period and conforms and adds to what we already know about this incredible boom town for the period through the beginning of the Civil War.

RATHBONE TRACT MAPS

In the last two years we have acquired copies of two maps labeled "The Rathbone Oil Tract Company Lands" One is dated 1866 and the other is dated 1866 - 1867. They give us much new information about the location of properties and wells with some names. Significant is a pipeline drawn on one coming from the top of the hill up Burning Springs Run down to the Little Kanawha River, which indicates that this pipeline was installed in that early period, showing that is one of the first US pipelines. One should note that we also have a iron railroad tank car and the manufacturers plate dated 1866, both significant items in the early transportation of oil. It should be noted that S. D. Karns in 1861 was proposing a gravity line from Burning Springs to Parkersburg. Again, a very early original idea from the West Virginia oilfields.

The point of this is that we are still unraveling West Virginia's oil and gas history. I have always had the belief that there is still much more out there residing in archives and collections which will give us the story of what happened in the early days of the West Virginia industry. For example, when are we going to learn the history of Petroleum, first named that by the B & O in 1857! That too will come - in time. Our documentation in "Where It All Began" was just the beginning.

WISER OIL COMPANY

John Wright, retired President of Wiser Oil, has been a friend of the museum since we started. He gave a glowing review of my book in 1994 at the man of the year award luncheon in Sistersville and one of his comments was something like "I thought Sistersville was the center of WV oil history until I read Dave's book" - he hesitated, and then said, "Would you believe that there were eight refineries in Parkersburg thirty years before the boom at Sistersville?". Under John's guidance, Wiser was one of the most successful oil companies in WV. John made a major donation of books and artifacts back in 1993. Well, last year John called and said that he had some more things for the museum - and to bring a truck. I did, and he truly had a truckload of history. Maps, ledger books, books, artifacts, etc, etc. Much more than I can include here. It is because of donations such as this that we have developed a first class museum is such a short time. Thanks John! We really appreciate your help.