Asphaltum was an unincorporated
community
A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, ...
in
Gillam Township,
Jasper County,
Indiana
Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...
.
Geography
Asphaltum is located at , approximately north and west of
Medaryville.
History
Asphaltum was platted by B. F. Rouse in 1901 at the peak of an oil boom in the area. An
oil refinery
An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial process plant where petroleum (crude oil) is transformed and refined into useful products such as gasoline (petrol), diesel fuel, asphalt base, fuel oils, heating oil, kerosene, lique ...
was built by the American Lubricating and Refining Company and operated for a short time. The
oil wells which led to the town's creation were fed by shallow deposits that soon failed to yield after hundreds of wells were put down in the area. The
crude oil given up by these wells was
sulfurous and of low quality.
A post office opened at Asphaltum in 1901, and closed in 1904.
References
{{authority control
Unincorporated communities in Jasper County, Indiana
Unincorporated communities in Indiana