By Niagara – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link
The Drake Well Museum is a delightful journey back in time to the birth of the American oil industry. Imagine stepping into a world where the clanking of machinery and the smell of oil were the sounds and scents of progress. This museum, located on a sprawling 240-acre site, is not just a collection of artifacts but a vibrant storytelling hub that brings to life the momentous events of 1859 when Colonel Edwin Drake struck oil, forever changing the course of history.
Drake invested his life savings ($200) into the venture, using a salt-well driller and lining the hole with cast iron pipes once he hit groundwater. On August 27, 1859, when he hit the maximum depth o 69.5 feet and nothing happened, he went home disheartened, but when he returned the next day, he found oil visible on top of the water column near the top of the well.
The original well burned to the ground in October 1859 and was rebuilt. The drill was rebuilt again in 1945 for the Pennsylvania legislature in a “board-by-board” fashion using photographs taken of the first rebuild.
Those who struck correct answer before the hint and will be showered with 2 points were:
- hhgygy
- Martin de Bock
- Paul Voestermans
- Eloy Cano
- Lighthouse
- Angie CF
And after the hint for 1 point:
- Bas van Limpt
- Phil Ower
- Garfield
- Graham Hedley
- bernd
And a hearty congratulations to Lighthouse with the only perfect 20 points this series!!