The Oil Fields
Oil was discovered in Muddy Creek in 1889 on the Dan Shanor farm, two miles north of Prospect. From the 1900’s to the 1950’s the area was extensively deep mined, strip mined, and auger mined. Between January 15, 1891 and July 17, 1891 the Muddy Creek oil field increased from two wells producing thirty barrels of oil a day to twenty-three wells producing 250 barrels a day. All of this oil was sol through the National Transit Company. The decline of the Muddy Creek oil industry could be attributed to insufficient resources, and the loss of the field to the building of Moraine State Park.
Four hundred twenty-two oil and gas wells were plugged up before the filling of Lake Arthur. Oil sludge was also removed from the lake bottom. It was necessary to locate the mines and seal them so that acid mine drainage would not polute the reservoir. The Moraine State Park project was the first strip mine reclamation project in the Appalachian region (12 states included) under the Federal Regional Development Act of 1965. The Department of Mines and Mineral Industries granted a contract to restore the original slope in the north central section of the park and to revegetate it.
No. 19 oil well was preserved as a demonstration site for visitors. It was originally drilled in 1932. This well was originally about 1000 feet deep but was plugged up to about 100 feet when the restoration project began. It took many years to finish the restoration of this well and its building, that contained a natural gas driven engine. There was also a rolling power eccentric unit and other oil field equipment. After it was begun, a lack of funds caused restoration to stop, and nature relcaimed the area. It was finally completed by a group of volunteers from the Steam Engine and Old Equipment Association of Portersville and opened to the public during the Lake Arthur Regatta in August 2000.
Four hundred twenty-two oil and gas wells were plugged up before the filling of Lake Arthur. Oil sludge was also removed from the lake bottom. It was necessary to locate the mines and seal them so that acid mine drainage would not polute the reservoir. The Moraine State Park project was the first strip mine reclamation project in the Appalachian region (12 states included) under the Federal Regional Development Act of 1965. The Department of Mines and Mineral Industries granted a contract to restore the original slope in the north central section of the park and to revegetate it.
No. 19 oil well was preserved as a demonstration site for visitors. It was originally drilled in 1932. This well was originally about 1000 feet deep but was plugged up to about 100 feet when the restoration project began. It took many years to finish the restoration of this well and its building, that contained a natural gas driven engine. There was also a rolling power eccentric unit and other oil field equipment. After it was begun, a lack of funds caused restoration to stop, and nature relcaimed the area. It was finally completed by a group of volunteers from the Steam Engine and Old Equipment Association of Portersville and opened to the public during the Lake Arthur Regatta in August 2000.
