Kelly Lounsberry, the director of the Pioneer Oil Museum in
Bolivar, NY, will describe “The History of
Oil in Allegany County” at this week’s Environmental Studies Speakers
Series, scheduled for 12:20 p.m. Friday in Roon Lecture Hall, the Science
Center at Alfred University.His presentation will also kick off the 89th annual New York
State Geological Association Field Conference, hosted by Alfred University.Oil was first discovered in Allegany County by the Seneca
Nation of Indians, and was first recorded in 1721 by French Jesuits who noted
the presence of an “oil spring” in the Town of Cuba, according to “Beers
History of Allegany County,” first published in 1879. When people began
drilling for oil in the late 1800s and early 1900s, Bolivar and nearby Richburg
were at the center of the boom.The Environmental Studies Speakers Series is open to the
public, free of charge. Light refreshments will be served.
