Tour of the Oil & Gas Museum

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The Oil & Gas Museum housed in historic building - downtown Parkersburg, West Virginia. The building was first built in 1874. It was burned and then rebuilt in 1900.

Outside exhibit area showing Parkersburg pump jack (in operation) and, at left, a Spencer Machine pump jack. The stones are from the old Parkersburg City Building.

Steam engine built by the United States Engine Works in Parkersburg. Circa 1905.

Gas engine used at Burning Springs, West Virginia. Circa 1910. Made in Parkersburg by the Spence Machine Company.

16 horsepower Reid gas engine used in the West Virginia oil fields.

Standard drilling rig donated to the Oil & Gas Museum by Jack Linning, West Virginia.

Wooden oil tank from the Petroleum, West Virginia oil field, which began in 1859.

20 horsepower portable "South Penn Special" gas engine and compressor.

Star drilling and service rig used in the Burning Springs oil field. Circa 1924.

15 horsepower gas engine built by Pattin Manufacturing in Marietta, Ohio in 1920. This engine was used at Burning Springs.

Nitroglycerine torpedo truck used to carry material to "shoot" a well (fracture) - 1949 Ford.

Bandwheel used at California, West Virginia as part of a power system for pumping multiple wells with one engine.

Star steam engine from an early (1910) drilling machine from the Burning Springs oil field.

South Penn (Pennzoil) display in the museum. Built from materials from Shattuck oil field outside Parkersburg to celebrate 100th anniversary in West Virginia.

Pumping wheel from continuous cable pumping system used at the Volcano, West Virginia oil field. First built in 1874.

Early pump used to pump oil or water. Used at Oil Rock, West Virginia at the Orchard Well house.

Lithograph of Parkersburg in 1860 as the full impact of the oil boom was occurring.

Early steam engine and oil/water pump used in West Virginia oil fields.

Part of Civil War exhibit. The War had a dramatic effect on the West Virginia oil industry and West Virginia politics.

Salesman's model of pump jack made by Parkersburg Rig & Reel.

Model of the paddlewheel riverboat "Sprague," the longest paddlewheeler on the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers. Timbers from outside Parkersburg were used to build the Sprague.

Model standard drilling rig. Rigs of this kind were made in Parkersburg and shipped all over the world from 1897 until 1960.

1885 kerosene lamp. Early use of oil was in the manufacture of kerosene for illumination.

Roll top desk of I.C. White, first head of West Virginia Geological Survey, oil producer, professor, and international lecturer and consultant.

Olds gas engine, 3 horsepower. A rare turn-of-the-century engine.