254. ANNUAL REPORT 
St. Clair Township.—Beside the wells already mentioned as forming 
part of the Williamsport field the following have been drilled in the town- 
ship: On the Moore farm in the northwest quarter of section 17 a Berea 
well producing some gas, about the year 1900; on the Rayl farm in the 
northeast quarter of section 19 a Berea well having a closed gas pressure 
of 125 pounds per square inch; a Berea well yielding some gas on the Mc- 
Donald farm in the northwest quarter of section 30; a well making some 
gas on the T. W. Huston farm in the southwest corner of section 21; a 
number of producing wells along the Middle Fork of Beaver creek in the 
eastern part of the township from Fredericktown south. Drilling is said 
to have been begun in the latter locality many years ago. The production 
is derived from the Berea sand. 
Elk Run Township.—-A well is reported to have been drilled on the 
Cope farm in the southeast quarter of section 24, before the civil war. For- 
merly it yielded much gas and is said to be used in the farm residence at 
the present time. Many years ago a well making considerable gas was 
drilled on the Thompson farm, near Elkton. This encouraged further 
exploration and three wells have since been drilled, all of which were 
failures. About the year 1898 a Berea well was drilled on the Wilson 
farm in the southeast quarter of section 25. The sand was reported 
nearly 100 feet thick, and so charged with salt-water that the latter rose 
rapidly to the top of the well. 
Center Township.—Wells have been drilled in the vicinity of Lisbon 
at various periods during the past 40 years. The earliest of these were in 
search of oil, and were put down not many years after Drake’s discovery - 
in Pennsylvania. All were financial failures. They disclosed, however, 
large quantities of salt-water and some gas, and resulted in the estab- 
lishment of salt works, the gas having been used as fuel. These works | 
have long been abandoned. The modern work in the search for oil and 
gas in this vicinity began about 1884, when a well was drilled just south of 
Lisbon to a depth approximating 1,600 feet. The well yielded a small 
quantity of both oil and gas, but not enough of either to warrant operating, 
and so was abandoned. In 1886 a well was drilled on the Valker tract 
along the Lisbon corporation line. Work did not cease until the drill had 
passed 972 feet below the Berea.t- A sand rock having a thickness of 12 
feet is reported to have been found 450 feet below the Berea, though it is 
not given in the record to which reference has just been made. The 
Berea yielded some gas, which was used in the city mains, but salt-water 
soon ruined the well. Three additional wells were soon drilled in the same 
vicinity, one reaching a depth of 1,100 feet, but the remaining two stopped 
with the Berea. Of these one was dry but the others yielded some gas, 
one of which is still producing. About the same time a well was drilled 
at the United States Tile Works. It made some gas but was soon ruined 
1Geol. Sur. of Ohio, Vol. VI, p. 322. 
