oil business in hartford city

[cindy]

I would like to post a query asking if anyone has any information about the
oil business in Blackford County in the early 1900's. My grandfather had
come from Sandusky, Erie Co., OH to work as an oil pumper c. 1900. He had
returned back to Ohio by 1910.

[melanie]

The county was caught up in the explosive growth of the gas boom in the late 19th century, which drew swarms of drillers to the area after natural gas was discovered in 1885. In 1886, drillers near Trenton in southeastern Blackford County hit one of the peak producing wells along the underground Trenton Dome, which produced strikes from Gas City to Portland and Montpelier to Redkey. The 30-year rough-and-tumble boom era brought rapid industrialization as companies moved close to the cheap and abundant fuel supply, but the gas ran out and the county has not seen such dramatic change since
SOURCE: Another Blackford County page located at:
www.usgennet.org/usa/in/county/blackford/