460 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



center of this production, has a good deal of enterprise and busi- 

 ness activity and has availed itself of the fine water power sup- 

 plied by the clear and steady flow of the Seneca river, the outlet 

 of the Finger lakes. 



It could not be otherwise than that the experience of the vil- 

 lages near by, specially of Fulton and Pulaski, should inspire 

 Baldwinsville to set the drill at work to ascertain its possibilities 

 in respect to the new fuel. Fulton is but 12 miles distant. 



A company was organized under the name of the Baldwinsville 

 light and heat co. and drilling was begun in the late fall of 1896. 

 Of this company J. T. Wilkins is secretary and treasurer and in 

 fact has had the principal direction and control throughout its 

 history thus far. 



The first well of this company was located a little northeast of 

 the village center on the Monroe farm. It found the Trenton 

 limestone at 2250 feet and was drilled into this formation 120 

 feet, making its total depth 2370 feet. A good vein of gas was 

 struck at this depth, the rock pressure of which was 1200 pounds. 

 The driller was not prepared to control the well when gas was 

 struck and it was left to blow wide open for 12 days, during which 

 time the gas escaped to the amount of at least 1,000,000 feet a 

 day. On the 13th day the well was tubed with three inch pipe 

 and shut in and its utilization was immediately begun. Gas 

 was furnished to consumers through meters from the first. 



The section of the strata shown by the well is normal in every 

 particular. Below the drift the Medina sandstone and shale are 

 struck. The upper part of the sandstone is white, the lower red. 

 Below the Medina the Oswego sandstone, bluish gray in color, 

 comes in, and, in due order, the Pulaski shale. From the last 

 named formation the Utica shale is distinctly separable, the 

 boundary being perfectly defined. The boundary of the Trenton 

 limestone below the Utica is also, in most cases, distinctly rec- 

 ognizable. A later well has been drilled into it 500 or 600 feet, 

 but thus far no drilling has been carried to the underlying gran- 

 ite, which will be found at a depth of about 3000 feet. 



In the Monroe well gas was found all the way down, in the 

 Medina and Oswego sandstones and in the Utica shale, but the 

 great volume came from the Trenton limestone. Warned by the 

 unfortunate experience of Fulton, the Baldwinsville company did 



