First Oil Wells in Canada
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Hard Oiler
N 42° 46.381 W 082° 07.247
17T E 408310 N 4736218
This National Historic Site marks the first oil well in Canada and also the first commercial oil well in North America – discovered by James Miller Williams in 1858
Waymark Code: WMAB8
Location: Ontario, Canada
Date Posted: 04/12/2006
Views: 130
Located at the Oil Museum of Canada in Oil Springs, Ontario this plaque marks the location of the first commercial oil well in North America. While "Colonel" Drake is popularly credited with "discovering" oil in Titusville, Pennsylvania, his well was about a year later than the one discovered here by James Miller Williams in 1858.
The oil was taken by horse and cart up the clay road to Wyoming, Ontario and thence by the Great Western Railway to Hamilton where it was refined into lamp oil.
Small quantities of crude oil are still produced in the area, by methods little changed from those used back in the 19th century. The town of Oil Springs is already preparing to celebrate 150 years of oil production in 2008.
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