Col. Edwin L. Drake - Titusville, PA
Posted by: 
bpratt
N 41° 37.995 W 079° 41.419
17T E 609086 N 4609886
Father of the Oil Industry
Waymark Code: WMCEZG
Location: Pennsylvania, United States
Date Posted: 08/30/2011
Views: 11
The grave site is the center piece of the Woodlawn Cemetery and is the first thing you will see as you drive in. Drake and his wife Laura are both burred here. Located behind the grave site you will find "The Driller" a Smithsonian listed statue dedicated to Col. Drake and all his efforts to help all of use enter a new age of prosperity. Be sure to check out the pictures I am posting with this waymark to see the statue that is by the way 3 waymarks of it's own.
Description:
Edwin L. Drake was given the title of Colonel by the Seneca Oil Company to help give him more of an ere of respectability with the locals while he tried to figure out the most efficient way to remove oil from the ground.
Drake was born in Greenville County, New York and lived both there and Vermont with his family before leaving home at the age of 19. He eventually settled in New Haven, Connecticut, and became a railway conductor. Shortly after retiring for health reasons Drake gained the job of researcher for the Seneca Oil Company and traveled to Titusville to begin his research.
After many tries including simply trying to dig a well size hole that simply collapsed because of the ground water in the area Drake and Uncle Billy Smith On August 27, 1859 finally struck the the precious oil and started the Oil Boom that was the start of the oil industry.
To learn more please follow the links provided on this page or perhaps visit the well it's self. http://www.drakewell.org/about.html
Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/edwin-drake#ixzz1WXu055xm
Some of the information for this waymark is from the associated web sites and still more has been gained from many years (all my life) of living in the area.
Date of birth: 03/11/1819
Date of death: 11/08/1880
Area of notoriety: Historical Figure
Marker Type: Crypt (below ground)
Setting: Outdoor
Visiting Hours/Restrictions: Sunrise till Sunset
Fee required?: No
Web site: [Web Link]
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