Oil Springs, Ontario

Oil Springs, Ontario
Oil Springs
—  Village  —
Oil Springs is located in Ontario
Oil Springs
Coordinates: 42°47′N 82°07′W / 42.783°N 82.117°W / 42.783; -82.117Coordinates: 42°47′N 82°07′W / 42.783°N 82.117°W / 42.783; -82.117
Country  Canada
Province  Ontario
County Lambton
Settled 1850s
Incorporated 1865
Government
 - Mayor Ian Veen
 - Federal riding Sarnia—Lambton
 - Prov. riding Sarnia—Lambton
Area[1]
 - Land 8.18 km2 (3.2 sq mi)
Population (2006)[1]
 - Total 717
 - Density 87.7/km2 (227.1/sq mi)
Time zone EST (UTC-5)
 - Summer (DST) EDT (UTC-4)
Postal Code N0N 1P0
Area code(s) 519 and 226
Website www.oilsprings.ca

Oil Springs is a village in Lambton County, Ontario, Canada, located along Former Provincial Highway 21 south of Oil City. The village, an enclave within Enniskillen Township, is home to the Oil Museum of Canada.

The CKCO-3 Channel 42 Television Tower is located near Oil Springs. It's the fifth tallest guyed antenna in Canada at 994 feet (303 m).

Contents

History

Before the village was formed, the indigenous people already knew about the gum beds and used the sticky oil to waterproof their canoes.[2] The place, originally called Black Creek, became the site of North America's first commercial oil well when asphalt producer James Miller Williams set out to dig a water well in 1858 and found free oil instead.[3][4]

Williams' discovery triggered North America's first oil rush and the village's name was changed to Oil Springs that same year.[5] Within a few years, Oil Springs was a bustling town with four thousand residents and in its peak days boasted paved roads, horse-drawn buses and street lamps.

John Henry Fairbank, a surveyor turned oil man who came to Oil Springs in 1861, bought some property and despite incurring debts and suffering family tragedies, Fairbank struck it rich, founding the successful Fairbank Oil Company that is now the oldest petroleum company in the world. He also invented the jerker line, a method used to pump oil to the surface from multiple wells using a shared steam engine. Jerker lines are still used to pump oil in Oil Springs today.[2][6]

On January 16, 1862, Hugh Nixon Shaw using a springboard to chip through rock, created Canada's first oil gusher (located on Gypsie Flats Road). It shot oil from over 60 metres (200 ft) below ground to above the treetops at a rate of 3000 barrels per day.[7] A year later, a plank road was built from Oil Springs to Wyoming rail station.[5]

In 1865, the place separated from Enniskillen Township and was incorporated as a village. A year later, Bernard King struck oil at Petrolia, 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) north of Oil Springs. Petrolia quickly replaced Oil Springs as Canada's oil capital, leaving Oil Springs almost abandoned.[5]

In 1881, more oil was discovered at a deeper level, resulting in another oil boom for Oil Springs. Two oil pipelines were built to Petrolia, and in 1886, a spur line of the Canada Southern Railway connected the village to Oil City (operating until 1960).[5]

In 1914, Charles Fairbank, son of John Henry, found a gas gusher in Oil Springs that was deemed the biggest gusher in Canada.[5][6]

In the 1930s, a fire destroyed all of the original oil rigs on the William's property and by 1974, the last receiving station of Imperial Oil closed.[6]

In 2008, the 150th anniversary of Williams' discovery, Canada Post issued a stamp commemorating this first commercial oil well, featuring portraits of Charles Tripp and Williams.[8]

Demographics

Population trend:[11]

  • Population in 2006: 717
  • Population in 2001: 758
  • Population in 1996: 773
  • Population in 1991: 690

References

  1. ^ a b "Oil Springs community profile". 2006 Census data. Statistics Canada. http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2006/dp-pd/prof/92-591/details/page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo1=CSD&Code1=3538018&Geo2=PR&Code2=35&Data=Count&SearchText=oil%20springs&SearchType=Begins&SearchPR=01&B1=All&Custom=. Retrieved 2011-02-22. 
  2. ^ a b "Newsworthy Nuggets". The Village of Oil Springs. http://www.oilsprings.ca/pictures.htm. Retrieved 20111-02-23. 
  3. ^ Elizabeth Kolbert "Unconventional crude" New Yorker 2007-11-12 page 46
  4. ^ New York Times 1866-03-22 [1], [2] (JPG images)
  5. ^ a b c d e "High Times in Oil Springs". The Village of Oil Springs. http://www.oilsprings.ca/timeline.htm. Retrieved 20111-02-23. 
  6. ^ a b c "History of Oil Springs". The Village of Oil Springs. http://www.oilsprings.ca/history.htm. Retrieved 20111-02-23. 
  7. ^ "The Shaw Gusher". The Village of Oil Springs. http://www.oilsprings.ca/todo.htm. Retrieved 20111-02-23. 
  8. ^ http://www.canadapost.ca/cpo/mc/personal/collecting/stamps/2008/2008_may_industries.jsf
  9. ^ "2006 Community Profiles". Statistics Canada. Government of Canada. 2009-02-24. http://www12.statcan.ca/census-recensement/2006/dp-pd/prof/92-591/index.cfm?Lang=E. Retrieved 2011-02-22. 
  10. ^ "2001 Community Profiles". Statistics Canada. Government of Canada. 2007-02-01. http://www12.statcan.ca/english/profil01/CP01/Index.cfm?Lang=E. Retrieved 2011-02-22. 
  11. ^ Statistics Canada: 1996, 2001, 2006 census

Further reading


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Oil Springs — may refer to some place names in North America: Canada Oil Springs, Ontario United States Oil Springs, Kentucky Oil Springs Reservation, an Indian reservation of the Seneca tribe in New York state This disambiguation page lists articles about… …   Wikipedia

  • Oil well — The pumpjack, such as this one located south of Midland, Texas, is a common sight in West Texas. An oil well is a general term for any boring through the earth s surface that is designed to find and acquire petroleum oil hydrocarbons. Usually… …   Wikipedia

  • Oil Heritage Route — The Oil Heritage Route travels along former Highway 21 (now Lambton CR 21) from its interchange with Highway 402, through Wyoming, Ontario, Petrolia, Ontario, Oil City, Ontario, Oil Springs, Ontario, and curving east and south into Dresden,… …   Wikipedia

  • Ontario Highway 21 — Highway 21 Bluewater Highway …   Wikipedia

  • Sarnia, Ontario — Infobox Settlement official name = Sarnia, Ontario native name = nickname = motto = Sarnia Semper (Latin for Sarnia Always ) imagesize = image caption = image image dot imagesize = image caption = image image dot dot mapsize = 250px dot map… …   Wikipedia

  • Petrolia (Ontario) — Petrolia Victoria Hall (1889) : hôtel de ville et théâtre Administration Pays …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Lambton County, Ontario — Infobox Settlement name = official name =Lambton other name = native name = nickname = settlement type =County total type = motto = imagesize = image caption = flag size = image seal size = image shield = shield size = image blank emblem = blank… …   Wikipedia

  • List of census subdivisions in Ontario — The following is a list of census subdivisions in the Canadian province of Ontario. NOTOC A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z*Key **C = City **R = First Nations Reserve **S E = Indian Settlement **T = Town **TP = Township **UNO =… …   Wikipedia

  • Oil sands — The Athabasca oil sands in Alberta, Canada, are a very large source of bitumen, which can be upgraded to synthetic crude oil. Bituminous sands, colloquially known as oil sands or tar sands, are a type of unconventional petroleum deposit. The… …   Wikipedia

  • List of communities in Ontario — Communities in the province of Ontario, Canada Note: this is an incomplete list of communities, not necessarily organized municipalities. For organized municipalities see list of municipalities in Ontario and for census subdivisions see list of… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”