Indiana Gas Boom - Discovery

Discovery

Natural gas was first discovered in Indiana in 1876. Coal miners in the town of Eaton were boring a hole in search of coal. After they reached a depth of about 600 feet (180 m), a loud noise came from the ground and a foul odor came from the hole. The event scared the miners. Some believed that they had breached the ceiling of Hell. They plugged the hole and did not drill any more at that location.

In 1884, natural gas was discovered in Ohio and the news of the discovery was published in the local Indiana newspapers. Residents of Eaton remembered the early incident near their town and realized the magnitude of the discovery. Returning to the site, a company reopened the hole and drilled down another 322 feet (98 m) deeper, releasing a large amount of gas. When the escaping gas was ignited, the flame reached twelve feet into the air and could be seen from the neighboring town of Muncie.

Gas fever swept the state and thousands of gas wells were created. Explorers found that the gas field was the largest of natural gas fields found up to that date, covering an area of 2,500 square miles (6,500 km2). The belt came to be called the Trenton Gas Field. Drillers found large quantities of oil in addition to the natural gas. The Trenton Gas Field was almost completely interconnected, so a well at any one location lowered pressure across the entire field. Whenever new holes were bored, a pipe was created off the main line. It was lit with a constant flame as proof that the gas was flowing. Although burning such a flame wasted massive amounts of the resource, the practice became common. The constant burning gas flame was called a flambeau.