Awards

• Winner of Paul H. Giddens Prize in Oil History 2004 (United States)
• Winner of Paul H. Giddens Prize in Oil History 2004.

Overview

Brian Black offers a geographical and social history of a region that was not only the site of America's first oil boom but was also the world's largest oil producer between 1859 and 1873. Against the background of the growing demand for petroleum throughout and immediately following the Civil War, Black describes Oil Creek Valley's descent into environmental hell. Known as ""Petrolia"" the region charged the popular imagination with its nearly overnight transition from agriculture to industry. But so unrestrained were these early efforts at oil drilling, Black writes, that ""the landscape came to be viewed only as an instrument out of which one could extract crude"". In a very short time, Petrolia was a ruined place - environmentally, economically and to some extent even culturally. Black gives historical detail and analysis to account for this transformation.

Full Product Details

Author:   Brian Black (Assistant Professor, Penn State Altoona)
Publisher:   Johns Hopkins University Press
Imprint:   Johns Hopkins University Press
Edition:   New edition
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 1.50cm , Length: 22.90cm
Weight:   0.499kg
ISBN:  

9780801877322

ISBN 10:   0801877326
Pages:   256
Publication Date:   20 January 2004
Recommended Age:   From 17
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational ,  Undergraduate
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.

Table of Contents

"Acknowledgments Introduction. The Persistence of Oil on the Brain Chapter 1. ""A Good Time Coming for Whales"" Chapter 2. ""A Triumph of Individualism"" Chapter 3. The Sacrificial Landscape of Petrolia Chapter 4. Oil Creek as Industrial Apparatus Chapter 5. ""What Nature Intended This Place Should Be"" Chapter 6. Pithole: Boomtowns and the ""Drawing Board City"" Chapter 7. Delusions of Permanence Epilogue. The Legacy of Petrolia Appendix Notes Select Bibliography Index"

Reviews

<p> Although Black uses the development of Petrolia to make larger points about how resource extraction changes ecological interactions, he is also interested in the region as a specific place with a specific history... While other scholars have written about what happens when capital is used to extract a resource from one region for the benefit of another, Black tells the story of transformation in this oil-rich valley at a level of detail and care that is rich and interesting in its own right. -- Hugh S. Gorman, Historical Geography

Author Information

Brian Black is an associate professor of history and environmental studies at Pennsylvania State University, Altoona College, and editor of Pennsylvania History.

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