Petrolia, Ontario

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Petrolia is a town in Ontario, Canada, near Sarnia, Ontario. It is billed as "Canada's Victorian Oil Town" and is often credited with starting the world oil industry.

In 1857 James Miller Williams of Hamilton, Ontario began distilling some of the "tar" lying around Oil Springs (located a few kilometers down the road), after buying the property rights from Charles Nelson Tripp. In 1858 he struck an oil deposit while digging a water well, sparking the oil drilling industry. This resulted in a large amount of wastage from [[Oil gushers|gushers], estimated at 5,000,000 barrels of oil in 1862 alone.^[1]

Oil production went through several boom periods in Petrolia, one was in 1898 and another in 1938. Some wells sunk in 1938 were initially producing 100 barrels a day at a price of $2 per barrel. This output, however, often lasted only a few weeks, falling to less than a barrel a day. ^[2]

Oil men from Petrolia travelled to the far reaches of the world (Gobi Desert, Arctic, Iran, Indonesia, USA, Australia, Russia, and over 80 other countries) teaching others how to find and extract crude oil. Those born and raised in Petrolia are referred to as "Hard Oilers", paying tribute to the toughness of its ancestors. Petrolia is also home to the Petrolia Discovery museum. Oil fields in the area are still pumping there to this day.

Lambton Central Collegiate & Vocational Institute (LCCVI) is the only high school located in Petrolia.

[edit] Media and Entertainment

Petrolia is home to the Victoria Playhouse, which has a great deal of history surrounding it. In January 1989, a devastating fire caused the National Historic Site known as Victoria Hall to completely burn down. It was re-opened in 1992.

The Petrolia Topic is the sole newspaper in the town of Petrolia. It is owned by Osprey Media.

The Oil Heritage District Community Centre was opened in Petrolia in 2006, after twenty years of campaigning by a group called "The Oil Heritage District Community Centre Association" which started in 1985. It serves rural and town residents in central Lambton County.

[edit] References

^ Gulless, Micky; Earle Gray and Robert Bott. Petroleum History Society - Canadian Beginnings. The Petroleum History Society. Retrieved on 2006-02-07.
^ Trestain, W.G.. "unknown", The London Free Press, 1939-07-15.