By Fred Steiner

You’ve heard the term “oil boom” as it relates to the history of Bluffton. What exactly does the term mean and what is its significance? (The oil boom here meant both oil wells and natural gas wells.)

Note: Check one of the photos at the bottom of this story. It shows one of seven wells shot on the Rev. Chris Badertscher farm on Bentley Road in 1898. At that time, oil sold for 80 cents a barrel. Rev. Badertscher was offered $20,000 for the oil rights but refused to sell. The well was pumped for 15 years.

Here’s a very brief background and much of this information is from the book “The Town at the Fork of the Rileys.”

In 1884 in Findlay, natural gas was struck at a depth of 1,092 feet, in sufficient quantity to make a flame 30 feet high, when ignited. This well was on the site of today's Hancock County Fairgrounds.

By 1886 there were 17 wells in Findlay. And, Findlay became known as the City of Lights across the United States.

Those lights of Findlay were so bright they could be seen at night in Bluffton. The gas and oil attracted 31 industries to Findlay. Today, the Marathon Oil Co., in Findlay, is a direct result of that 1884 well.

Bluffton was affected by this prosperity, affecting the growth of the village. The first oil well in Bluffton was drilled in 1890 on the Asa Stratton farm. The real rush happened in 1894 and from then on this boom brought a solid, substantial, prosperous decade of good times, ready money and other conditions laying the groundwork for Bluffton’s industrial expansion.

Sixty-four foot derricks sprang up across the countryside. At night flickering oil lamps marked their locations as drilling crews worked the sites 24 hours a day.

At the height of this boom in 1900 there were estimated to be 500 oil wells pumping in the Bluffton area. Thirty crews were working the wells. The majority of these wells were in Orange Township.

When driving from Bluffton to Arlington on State Route 103 today count the farm houses constructed of brick. Those farms had oil and the farmers could afford brick houses.

The oil boom had its downside, resulting in a dozen saloons in Bluffton. As you can imagine, this helped the rise of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, which became present in Bluffton also at this time.

The oil boom began to fade in the early 1900s, but the prosperity it brought was significant in the growth of Bluffton. And, today, the oil boom of the 1890s is part of forgotten Bluffton.