Episode 3 of 4
Drake Drills First Commercial Well
- When
- August 27, 1859
- Where
- Oil Creek valley
Edwin Drake drilled the first commercial oil well in the US at Titusville, Pennsylvania, on August 27, 1859, reaching 69.5 feet.
Drake began drilling near Oil Creek in 1858 but faced financial difficulties. His colleagues gave up by April 1859, leaving him to fund the operation with a $500 loan. On August 27, 1859, the drill reached 69.5 feet, striking oil just before funds ran out.
Sources
- Pennsylvania oil rush Wikipedia, revision of 2026-04-21
- Edwin Drake Wikipedia, revision of 2026-08-27
- Drake Well Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-04
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.