Murrysville Gas Well
Murrysville, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
First gas well in county, and one of world's most productive. Drilled, 1878. Caught fire in 1881, burning for years with tremendous roar and brilliance. Later was controlled and piped to Pittsburgh. Site lies 500 yards S.E. near railroad.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
Drilled in 1878, the Murrysville gas well became one of the most productive in the world and a wonder of the early natural-gas age. When it caught fire in 1881 it burned for years, its roaring, brilliant flame drawing sightseers before engineers finally brought it under control and piped the gas to Pittsburgh's hungry mills and homes. The site helped prove that natural gas could be captured and moved as an industrial fuel.
Why it matters
Western Pennsylvania's gas and oil fields powered the nation's industrial rise, and this well was an early demonstration that fossil fuel could be piped from countryside to city at scale.
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