Jim Messer

Growing Up in the Bradford Oil Fields Jim Messer

The Bradford Oil Field is the oldest producing oil field in the world, and from it comes the very best grade of crude oil in the world. This book tells of the first discovery of oil in the USA by the Seneca Indians at Cuba, NY in 1627, and of the first drilled oil well at Titusville, PA in 1859. There are photos of old time drilling rigs, power-houses, and pumping jacks, along with descriptions of how they operated. There is a section devoted to the dangers of nitroglycerin used to shoot the wells, and of one man in particular (my father) who survived that dangerous occupation. Several pages are devoted to the things other people remember when they too grew up in the oil patch. The book up-dates us as to current drilling operations in 2008, "There's Still Oil in Them Thar Hills", and ends with the introduction of a brand new way to refine crude oil that will reduce the cost of refining a gallon of gasoline by fifty-percent or more.