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OilRefining An important new industry, oil refining, grew after the Civil War.Crude oil, or petroleum -- a dark, thick ooze from the earth -- had beenknown for hundreds of years, but little use had ever been made of it. In the1850s Samuel M. Kier, a manufacturer in western Pennsylvania, begancollecting the oil from local seepages and refining it into kerosene.Refining, like smelting, is a process of removing impurities from a rawmaterial. Kerosene was used to light lamps. It was a cheap substitute for whale oil, which was becomingharder to get. Soon there was a large demand for kerosene. People began tosearch for new supplies of petroleum.The first oil well was drilled by E. L.Drake, a retired railroad conductor. In 1859 he began drillingin Titusville, Pennsylvania. The whole venture seemed so impractical andfoolish that onlookers called it Drakes Folly. But when he had drilled down about 70 feet , Drake struck oil.His well began to yield 20 barrels of crude oil a day. News of Drakes success brought oil prospectors tothe scene. By the early 1860s these wildcatters were drilling forblack gold all over western Pennsylvania. The boom rivaled theCalifornia gold rush of 1848 in its excitement and WildWest atmosphere. And it brought far more wealth to the prospectorsthan any gold rush.Crude oil could be refined into many products. For someyears kerosene continued to be the principal one. It was sold in grocerystores and door-to-door. In the 1880s refiners learned how to make other petroleumproducts such as waxes and lubricating oils. Petroleum was not then usedto make gasoline or heating oil. | 
