Petrolia: The Landscape of America's First Oil Boom
Winner of the Paul H. Giddens Prize in Oil History from Oil Heritage Region, Inc.
In Petrolia, Brian Black offers a geographical and social history of a region that was not only the site of America's first oil boom but was also the world's largest oil producer between 1859 and 1873. Against the background of the growing demand for petroleum throughout and immediately following the Civil War, Black describes Oil Creek Valley's descent into environmental hell. Known as "Petrolia," the region charged the popular imagination with its nearly overnight transition from agriculture to industry. But so unrestrained were these early efforts at oil drilling, Black writes, that "the landscape came to be viewed only as an instrument out of which one could extract crude." In a very short time, Petrolia was a ruined place—environmentally, economically, and to some extent even culturally. Black gives historical detail and analysis to account for this transformation.
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Petrolia: The Landscape of America's First Oil Boom
Winner of the Paul H. Giddens Prize in Oil History from Oil Heritage Region, Inc.
In Petrolia, Brian Black offers a geographical and social history of a region that was not only the site of America's first oil boom but was also the world's largest oil producer between 1859 and 1873. Against the background of the growing demand for petroleum throughout and immediately following the Civil War, Black describes Oil Creek Valley's descent into environmental hell. Known as "Petrolia," the region charged the popular imagination with its nearly overnight transition from agriculture to industry. But so unrestrained were these early efforts at oil drilling, Black writes, that "the landscape came to be viewed only as an instrument out of which one could extract crude." In a very short time, Petrolia was a ruined place—environmentally, economically, and to some extent even culturally. Black gives historical detail and analysis to account for this transformation.
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Petrolia: The Landscape of America's First Oil Boom
Winner of the Paul H. Giddens Prize in Oil History from Oil Heritage Region, Inc.
In Petrolia, Brian Black offers a geographical and social history of a region that was not only the site of America's first oil boom but was also the world's largest oil producer between 1859 and 1873. Against the background of the growing demand for petroleum throughout and immediately following the Civil War, Black describes Oil Creek Valley's descent into environmental hell. Known as "Petrolia," the region charged the popular imagination with its nearly overnight transition from agriculture to industry. But so unrestrained were these early efforts at oil drilling, Black writes, that "the landscape came to be viewed only as an instrument out of which one could extract crude." In a very short time, Petrolia was a ruined place—environmentally, economically, and to some extent even culturally. Black gives historical detail and analysis to account for this transformation.
Brian Black is an associate professor of history and environmental studies at Pennsylvania State University, Altoona College, and editor of Pennsylvania History.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments Introduction. The Persistence of Oil on the BrainChapter 1. "A Good Time Coming for Whales" Chapter 2. "A Triumph of Individualism"Chapter 3. The Sacrificial Landscape of PetroliaChapter 4. Oil Creek as Industrial ApparatusChapter 5. "What Nature Intended This Place Should Be" Chapter 6. Pithole: Boomtowns and the "Drawing Board City" Chapter 7. Delusions of Permanence Epilogue. The Legacy of PetroliaAppendixNotesSelect Bibliography Index
What People are Saying About This
John R. Stilgoe
Impeccably researched and gracefully written, this book probes deeply into social, economic, and ecological meanings of an early high-tech landscape far too long ignored. John R. Stilgoe, Harvard University