Where were the first oil fields located?
Where were the first oil fields located? The first modern oil well in America was drilled by Edwin Drake in Titusville, Pennsylvania in 1859. The discovery of petroleum in Titusville led to the Pennsylvania 'oil rush', making oil one of the most valuable commodities in America. Where was oil first discovered in North America? James Miller Williams, a carriage maker from Hamilton, Ont. and the founding father of Canada's petroleum industry, was drilling for water in 1858 when he struck oil at a site known as Black Creek in southern Ontario. The discovery became North America's first oil well and...