Pennsylvania’s Oil Heritage: Stories from the Headache Post

In 1859, Edwin L. Drake drilled an opening into the western Pennsylvania earth, forever altering the global landscape. The petroleum treasure buried underneath was oil, transforming these rugged hills into the setting of the black gold rush. Pennsylvania’s oil region was the location of America’s first oil boom and was the world’s leader in the development of oil production between 1859 and 1901. This collection of stories relates to the people, places and events in western Pennsylvania’s Allegheny River Valley and how this scarce commodity shaped their lives. Sean K. Miller is a product of the region’s first oil drillers, and he combines his professional storytelling abilities with his family history in the oil industry to produce a narrative that is both entertaining and educational.