PARKERSBURG OIL & GAS MUSEUM (Mark)

I love museums, and although this museum in Parkersburg, West Virginia is designated as the Oil & Gas Museum, it is so much more.  

​Inside the three stories of this building is a massive collection of artifacts of the county; in fact some portions of the Museum function as the attic of the entire region.

Cheri and I took 263 photographs while we were touring the museum.  (And no, we did not get to everything.)

I was up and around before Cheri was ready to venture out from the hotel (i.e., bed), so I took a drive to see the local area.  I happened onto a classic car show taking place.

The show had a number of wonderful cars; I believe the oldest was a 1929 Ford.  But this Ford Mustang, a 1966 model, 100% original in unbelievable condition, was my favorite:

​I happened to wear a shirt that Cheri made me for a birthday present; the fabric has license plates from all 50 states.

​It was a hit; people I talked to were sure I had worn it to come to the show.

​This 1929 Dual Rear-Axle Model A Truck displayed inside the Museum was not too different from a truck I had seen earlier at the show.

​It was a popular model in the oil fields, and can carry more weight than a single-axle truck.

The fishing advertised in the second sign has nothing to do with culinary arts, unless you happen to want to eat oil.

​This is one of the thousands of exhibits.  You can see the desk as it was used and leaf through account books and charts.

The volunteer running the Museum was very helpful.  It was good to start with the 15-minute video explaining the oil and gas mining history of the area.

​Oil was originally found when a business man was drilling for and extracting salt to be sold in town.  When he got about 25 feet down he ran into the oil, which spoiled his salt-mining business.

This is a small section of a VERY big roller map.  It was over 6 feet in width and the amount of map rolled up on the rollers was huge.  The key to all of the hand drawn black symbols on the map is to the right.

Cheri really wants that map!

To make it easier to drill nitroglycerin bombs were dropped down the shaft and set off.  Obviously the work was not only back breaking and dirty, but dangerous.  ​

When the Civil War commenced, the oil fields were ordered destroyed to keep the opposition from capturing them and benefitting from the oil. 

Unfortunately the soldiers sent to do the job did not realize how volatile the area was.  They were successful at blowing up and burning the fields, but at the cost of several hundred lives.

Some petroleum-based products from years gone by:

It is hard to fathom just how much of modern life is completely based on petroleum; almost everything you see and touch in the modern world is a direct result of oil.​

The museum has hundreds of ledgers showing the fortunes made and lost through time:

By the way, this was the second museum we visited on this day.

Did I mention I love museums?