The Allegheny Transportation Company was a
pipeline
Pipeline may refer to:
Electronics, computers and computing
* Pipeline (computing), a chain of data-processing stages or a CPU optimization found on
** Instruction pipelining, a technique for implementing instruction-level parallelism within a s ...
company that operated in the 1860s and 1870s as a bulk distributor of
crude oil
Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crude ...
. It became the Pennsylvania Transportation Company in 1872 upon merger with Commonwealth Oil & Pipe Company. The company gathered crude oil from the oil fields in
Northwest Pennsylvania
Western Pennsylvania is a region in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, covering the western third of the state. Pittsburgh is the region's principal city, with a metropolitan area population of about 2.4 million people, and serves as its economic ...
and transported it via pipelines to railheads. It was the largest such company in the oil regions during this time, and was operated under the administration of Henry Harley. By 1871, it controlled 500 miles of pipelines in Northwest Pennsylvania.
State charter
A charter from the State of
Pennsylvania in 1864 gave the company a unique right to carry oil via pipelines to railroad yards.
Jay Gould's involvement
In 1868,
Jay Gould bought control of the company for $250,000 in an effort to gain increased rail traffic over the
Erie Railroad via the
Atlantic and Great Western Railroad. The Erie Railroad was competing for traffic with the
New York Central Railroad via the
Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway and with the
Pennsylvania Railroad
The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...
.
In a contract signed on June 4, 1868,
John D. Rockefeller's firm (
Rockefeller, Andrews & Flagler) along with Cleveland's other two largest oil refiners - Clark, Payne & Company; and Westlake, Hutchins & Company - were given a 25% of the interest in the Allegheny Transportation Company in return for $1. This stock was worth $62,222.
On July 2, 1868, Jay Gould took control of the Erie Railroad. Gould's gift would help finance Rockefeller, Andrews & Flagler through the next two lean years.
See also
*
Oil City, Pennsylvania
Oil City is a city in Venango County, Pennsylvania known for its prominence in the initial exploration and development of the petroleum industry. It is located at a bend in the Allegheny River at the mouth of Oil Creek.
Initial settlement of Oi ...
References
Bibliography
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{{Portal, Energy, Companies
Defunct oil companies of the United States
Standard Oil
Crude oil pipelines companies
Erie Railroad
Defunct companies based in Pennsylvania