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4 unusual facts about Edwin Drake


Edwin Drake

Drake Bell and Billy Smith appear in À l'ombre des derricks ("In the Shadow of the Oil Rigs"), an episode of the Franco-Belgian comics Western series Lucky Luke, published in 1960, written by René Goscinny (co-creator of Asterix) and drawn by Morris.

While some claims of prior art do exist (e.g., Bóbrka, Poland in 1854, Wietze, Germany in 1857, Oil Springs, Ontario, Canada in 1858), the Drake Well at Titusville was the first well to be widely copied.

Oil Creek State Park

The park is adjacent to Drake Well Museum, the site of the first successful commercial oil well in the United States, that was drilled under the direction of Colonel Edwin Drake.

Pennsylvania Route 36

In 1955, the highway was designated as the Colonel Drake Highway in honor of Edwin Drake.


Oil Region National Heritage Area

The national heritage area commemorates and promotes the region surrounding Edwin Drake's oil well of 1859 near Titusville, which gave rise to the modern oil industry.


see also