2008 Celebrate Media Release April 7, 2009 For Immediate Release
Prestigious Group Studies Oil History in Oil Springs, Ontario
For the first time, the Canadian branch of an international organization of professionals dedicated to conserving the world’s historic sites and monuments (ICOMOS Canada) is studying the oil heritage of Oil Springs, the tiny village 30 km. southeast of Sarnia. This is the same organization that studied the Rideau Canal before it became a UNESCO World Heritage site in June, 2007.
On April 19 and 20, 2008, this group of about 40 delegates from Ontario and Quebec will be gathering in Oil Springs at the Oil Museum of Canada for “Black Gold”, a tour and symposium to mark the 150th anniversary of the first commercial oil well in North America.
This is the well that changed the world. When James Miller Williams made producing oil a business in 1858, the modern oil industry ignited. The site is now The Oil Museum of Canada, a National Historic Site.
In promoting the event, ICOMOS Canada has stated, “The region boasts a wealth of heritage assets, significant on a provincial, national and global scale”. It also notes that Fairbank Oil Properties, also a National Historic Site, still operates using the technology of the pioneers.
“One objective of ICOMOS Canada is to provide knowledgeable experts in heritage and to assist communities in defining, enjoying and protecting their heritage assets,” says Ian McGillivray, Director English Speaking Committee of ICOMOS Canada. “The Oil Springs symposium is a special opportunity to study an extraordinary industrial heritage site and its significance as a heritage landscape. We anticipate a variety of viewpoints will be expressed, leading toward conclusions that will be of value to the community in protecting and promoting their special history.”
"Oil Springs is unique,” says symposium organizer Robert Cochrane. “It is the oldest oilfield in North America and continues to pump oil with 19th-century technology. The ICOMOS Symposium adds the world heritage perspective to the site and will stimulate the initiative to preserve this site for generations to come."
The ICOMOS Canada group will be touring a number of historically significant sites at Fairbank Oil Properties including the site of Canada’s first gusher, the hand-dug wells of the early 1860s, and the only remaining oil receiving station. The Fairbank family has been pumping crude longer than anyone on earth; four generations of Fairbanks have worked this property since 1861. Its 350 wells continue to pump 24,000 barrels of oil annually using the pioneer technology.
A tour of Petrolia, Canada’s Victorian Oil Town, is included in the weekend’s activities. The dinner, key guest speaker, a book launch and the play Oil Days will all take place at Petrolia’s Victoria Hall which is also a National Historic Site.
Speakers booked for the ICOMOS Black Gold symposium are high-calibre academics. Among those presenting papers or giving speeches are: Prof. Patrick Martin, director of Graduate Studies and Assoc. Prof. Of Archaeology at Michigan Technical University; Dr. Emory Kemp, founder of the University of West Virginia’s Institute for History of Technology and Industrial Archaeology; Dr. Norman Ball, director of the University of Waterloo’s Society Technology and Values Programme; and Dr. Christopher Andreae; past president of the Society for Industrial Archaeology.
More information about the 150th anniversary events can be found at www.2008celebrate.com.
For more info on this release Contact Pat McGee Pat.mcgee@ciaccess.com |