46 ECONOMIC GEOLOGY OF AMITY QUADRANGLE, PA. 
in earnest. Other prominent wells in 18S5 were the McNary gas well 
and the Gordon No. 2. The production of oil in Washington County 
in that year was 10,500 barrels. January 6, 1886, a well was finished 
on the Smith farm, which proved to be a gusher with a production of 
1,500 barrels per day. March 11, a big pool of oil was struck by m 
well on the Manifold farm, at a depth of 1,425 feet. This was a pecu- 
liar well, as the oil was found in the "Big Injun" sand, several hun- 
dred feet nearer the surface than any other strike of oil in the count}". 
The production the first day was estimated at about 700 barrels. 
The Manifold No. 2 and Willetts No. 11 wells later obtained oil from 
the same sand. 
In April, 1886, the Thayer well came in with 2,000 barrels of oil 
pci- day. At the close of May t lie field contained 16 producing wells 
and the production was 4,000 barrels per day. In June it had risen 
to 10,120 barrels. The maximum was in October, when the produc- 
tion amounted to 17,549 barrels per day. After this it declined. The 
discovery of oil in this field brought the price of petroleum from $1, 
about a year before, down to 60 cents a barrel at the end of October. 
Two enormous wells were the Barre 1 and Cameron 1, both in South 
Strabane Township. The Cameron 1, finished in May, was probabrjj 
the largest producer in the field. When at its best it yielded from 
1 lo to 17."> barrels per hour. In November of the same year it was 
still producing about 25 barrels per day. Another great producer 
was i he Stewart well. Angus: 17. L886, this well produced 2,558 bar- 
rels. According to the Washington Reporter, the number of pro- 
ducing wells up to September 13, 1886, was 61; and, the average cost 
of a single well being taken as $8,00,0, the total cost of the producing 
wells would be $488,000. There were 25 dry holes in the field, which, 
with the average cost of each at $7,000, would amount to $175,000. 
The amount paid in bonuses and purchases was $466,000 and the 
estimated running expenses $75,000. The total estimated cost was 
$1,184,700. 
For a few years Washington was a great oil camp. Hundreds of 
wells were drilled in the southern, western, and eastern parts of the 
town and in the area extending to the northeast as far as Linden] 
New producers became frequent and the excitement was intense. 
Nearly all the successful wells were oil wells, though the field has 
contained a few scattering gas wells. As usual in the rich fields, the 
greatest production was confined to a very few farms, some of which 
contained from 10 to 30 wells apiece. Most of these had a rather 
short life, and the number of producing wells has since steadily 
decreased until, at the present date, only a few derricks are standing as 
a reminder of the productiveness of over a decade ago (PL IV, B). 
Many of the rich farms have been completely exhausted. In gen- 
eral the sites of the wells have been plowed over or grown up to grass, 
