First Kentucky Oil Well
McCreary County, McCreary County, Kentucky
Marker Inscription
First Kentucky Oil Well. In 1818, Marcus Huling and Andrew Zimmerman were drilling salt wells along South Fork of Cumberland River. On land leased from Martin Beaty they struck oil. Attempts to market it downriver were not successful, so oil was barreled and carted away for medicinal use. This was the first commercial oil well; its production reached one hundred barrels daily. See over. (Reverse) Martin Beaty (Beatty) - First came to this area in 1817 and bought land on the South Fork. Besides operating salt works, Beaty served as state senator, 1824-28, 1832; representative, 1848; and was elected to Congress in 1832. He was twice a Presidential elector; served locally on first Board of Common School Commissioners. Died in 1856. Beattyville, Lee County, was named for his family. Over.
Erected by Kentucky Historical Society
The Story
In 1818, salt-well drillers Marcus Huling and Andrew Zimmerman struck oil while boring along the South Fork of the Cumberland River on land leased from Martin Beaty. Unable to sell the crude downriver, they barreled it and carted it off for medicinal use, even as the well reportedly produced up to a hundred barrels a day—making it one of the nation's first commercial oil wells. Beaty himself became a prominent figure, serving in the legislature and Congress and lending his name to Beattyville.
Why it matters
This accidental strike predates the celebrated Pennsylvania oil boom by four decades, marking an early and little-known chapter in America's petroleum history.
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Related people
- · Marcus Huling
- · Andrew Zimmerman
- · Martin Beaty
Themes & tags
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