Workers would regularly tear up city streets to lay new lines or repair existing ones, in the process taking the time to pull out the lines of rival companies. The company’s focus was a street lights, rather than home lights, and they worked to replace the whale oil fueled lamps that has been in use since the mid 1700’s.įive other companies were eventually dedicated to serving New York City before the merger in 1884, often in heavy competition. The first of these companies, New York Gas Light Company, was created in 1823 by a charter from the state legislature. This was an unprecedented move as gas companies used sabotage one another in this highly competitive industry, which was often plagued with brawls over the placement and repair of gas lines. In 1884, six major companies that were servicing the gas lights in New York City came together to form the Consolidated Gas Company which would go on to become Consolidated Edison. Competing gas companies would often sabotage each other. Novem– Six Gas Companies Combine to Form ConEd in New YorkĪ painting of New York in 1873. What was perhaps most unique about the opening of this channel is that President Woodrow Wilson opened it remotely from the White House, saluting and pressing an ivory button that was wired to a cannon in Houston. The swampy and overgrown area is dredged to a depth of 25 feet. This is when the historic Houston Ship Channel came to life.ĭredged out of the Buffalo Bayou, it provided a wider, deeper path into the port. The discovery of oil, along with increased agriculture, lead to increased ship traffic into the Port of Houston and a number of issues for those trying to access the port. The Houston Ship Channel provides a deep water path to one of the busiest seaports in the US. Novem– Woodrow Wilson Opens Houston Ship Channel Drake would go on to drill the first commercial oil well in the United States. After Sillman confirmed that kerosene could be used as a fuel, Bissell hired Edwin Drake to drill on the sight of the oil seeps. He believed that when oil was refined it could be made into kerosene as a fuel for lamps.įollowing up on his suspicions, he asked Professor Benjamin Sillman Jr. In 1854, George Bissell bought 100 acres containing oil seeps from the Brewer, Watson & Company lumber company. The monument includes a bronze statue called ‘The Drifter.’ Novem– George Bissell Buys Land For First Commercial Oil Well Once he was returned to the town where his historic well was drilled, a monument was built in Drake’s honor. Henry Rogers, an executive with Standard Oil, would have his body re-interred in Titusville, Pennsylvania. Decades after his death, his contributions would finally be fully recognized. Ill and living in poverty, Drake would be voted a pension for his support to recognize his achievements. He also never patented his innovative idea behind how to drill for oil. While the oil industry would bring wealth to many people, Drake invested poorly and his money was soon lost in speculation. Twenty years after his ground-breaking discovery, Drake passed away in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Located in Titusville, Pennsylvania, it first produced oil in 1859, and started the U.S. A monument located in Titusville, Pennsylvania was constructed 1901 to honor Edwin Drake.Įdwin Drake drilled just three wells in his life, but he is widely considered to be the father of the US oil industry-as he was the first American to successfully drill an oil well.
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