Petrolia is a town in southwestern

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada. It is part of

Lambton County Lambton County is a county in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. It is bordered on the north by Lake Huron, which is drained by the St. Clair River, the county's western border and part of the Canada-United States border. To the south is Lake Saint Cla ...

and is surrounded by Enniskillen Township. It is billed as "Canada's Victorian Oil Town" and is often credited with starting the

oil industry The petroleum industry, also known as the oil industry, includes the global processes of exploration, extraction, refining, transportation (often by oil tankers and pipelines), and marketing of petroleum products. The largest volume products ...

in North America, a claim shared with the nearby town of Oil Springs. Lambton Central Collegiate & Vocational Institute (LCCVI) is located in Petrolia.

History

In 1857,

James Miller Williams James Miller Williams (September 14, 1818 – November 25, 1890) was a Canadian-American businessman and politician. Williams is best known for establishing the first commercially successful oil well in 1858 and igniting the first oil boom ...

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

began distilling some of the "tar" lying around Oil Springs (located a few kilometers south from Petrolia), after buying the property rights from

Charles Nelson Tripp Charles Nelson Tripp (182330 September 1866) was a bitumen businessman in Ontario. Tripp is best known for his role in the formation of the International Mining and Manufacturing Company in 1854, the world's first incorporated oil company. Tripp and ...

. In July or August 1858, he struck an oil deposit in Oil Springs while digging a shallow well, sparking the oil drilling industry. In 2008, the 150th anniversary of the discovery,

Canada Post Canada Post Corporation (, trading as Canada Post (), is a Canadian Crown corporation that functions as the primary postal operator in Canada. Originally known as Royal Mail Canada (the operating name of the Post Office Department of the Can ...

issued a stamp commemorating this first commercial oil well, featuring portraits of Charles Tripp and Williams. However, these early wells resulted in a large amount of wastage from gushers, estimated at of oil in 1862 alone. Petrolia got its start in 1866 when a major gas well was found, resulting in an oil boom that caused many to abandon Oil Springs in favour of this new settlement. The place separated from Enniskillen Township and was incorporated as a town on 25 December of that same year. Oil production went through several boom periods in Petrolia; one was in 1898 and another in 1938. Some wells sunk in 1938 were initially producing at a price of $2 per barrel. This output, however, often lasted only a few weeks, falling to less than a barrel a day. Oil men from Petrolia travelled to the far reaches of the world (

Gobi Desert The Gobi Desert (, , ; ) is a large, cold desert and grassland region in North China and southern Mongolia. It is the sixth-largest desert in the world. The name of the desert comes from the Mongolian word ''gobi'', used to refer to all of th ...

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, United States, Australia, Russia, and over 80 other countries) teaching others how to find and extract crude oil. Those born and raised in Petrolia are referred to as "Hard Oilers", paying tribute to the toughness of their ancestors. Petrolia is also home to the Petrolia Discovery museum. Some oil fields in the area are still operational.

Climate

Demographics

In the

2021 Census of Population The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sli ...

conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; ), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and culture. It is headquartered in ...

, Petrolia had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

Attractions

Petrolia is home to Victoria Hall, a

National Historic Site of Canada National Historic Sites of Canada () are places that have been designated by the federal Minister of the Environment on the advice of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada (HSMBC), as being of national historic significance. Parks C ...

. Originally a fire hall, municipal office, police hall, jail and opera house, it was completed in 1889 for a total cost of $35,000. In January 1989, a fire caused extensive damage. It was subsequently restored, and re-opened in 1992. Currently it houses the town hall and Victoria Playhouse. Directly adjacent to Victoria Hall is Petrolia's Victoria Park, which hosts the annual 'PizzaFest' food festival as a collaboration between the town and their five local pizza restaurants. The Oil Heritage District Community Centre was opened in Petrolia in 2006. It serves rural and town residents in central

Media

Until September 2013, ''The Petrolia Topic'' was the sole newspaper in the town of Petrolia. It is owned by

Osprey Media Osprey Media L.P. was a Canadian newspaper regional chain that published 20 daily newspapers, 34 non-daily newspapers, and a number of shopping guides and magazines in the Canadian province of Ontario. Formerly an independent income trust, Osprey ...

. In September 2013, ''The Independent'' of Petrolia & Central Lambton began publication.

Notable people

* Donald Ferguson Brown, former Canadian politician, barrister, and lawyer *

Jedidiah Goodacre Jedidiah Goodacre (born January 11, 1989) is a Canadian actor. He starred opposite Rose Reid in the 2021 feature film '' Finding You''. He also starred in the 2022 film '' Margaux''. On television, he portrayed Dorian Gray in '' Chilling Adventu ...

, film actor *

Dale Hunter Dale Robert Hunter (born July 31, 1960) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and the former head coach of the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League and current co-owner, president, and head coach of the London Knights o ...

, retired professional hockey player, and current OHL coach of the

London Knights The London Knights are a junior ice hockey team from London, Ontario, Canada, playing in the Ontario Hockey League, one of the leagues of the Canadian Hockey League. The Knights started out in 1965 as the London Nationals but changed to their ...

; former head coach of the

Washington Capitals The Washington Capitals (colloquially known as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. The Capitals compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NH ...

Dave Hunter David P. Hunter (born January 1, 1958) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who won three Stanley Cups with the Edmonton Oilers in the 1980s. He also played for the Pittsburgh Penguins and Winnipeg Jets. Hunter was born in Petrolia ...

, retired professional hockey player who won three

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup () is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, and the International Ic ...

s with the

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. Th ...

in the 1980s * Mark Hunter, retired professional hockey player and currently co-owner (with brother

), and general manager of the

OHL hockey team *

Michael Leighton Michael W. Leighton (born May 19, 1981) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Chicago Blackhawks, Nashville Predators, Philadelphia Flyers and Carolina Hurricanes. Play ...

, former professional ice hockey goaltender who played for the

Carolina Hurricanes The Carolina Hurricanes (colloquially known as the Canes) are a professional ice hockey team based in Raleigh, North Carolina. The Hurricanes compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Con ...

Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team play ...

Chicago Blackhawks The Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986, and known colloquially as the Hawks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago. The Blackhawks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (N ...

, and the

Nashville Predators The Nashville Predators (colloquially referred to as the Preds) are a professional ice hockey team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Predators compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Divisio ...

* Peter Schiemann, one of the four Royal Canadian Mounted Police constables killed in the

Mayerthorpe tragedy The Mayerthorpe tragedy occurred on March 3, 2005, on the farm of James Roszko, approximately north of Rochfort Bridge, Alberta, Rochfort Bridge near the town of Mayerthorpe in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Albe ...

John Van Boxmeer John Martin Van Boxmeer (born November 20, 1952) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He also worked extensively as a hockey coach and scout after his playing career ended in 1984. Biography John Van Boxmeer was considered a top ...

, retired professional hockey player with the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal Canadiens (), officially ' ( Canadian Hockey Club) and colloquially known as the Habs, are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal. The Canadiens compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic D ...

who then transitioned to coaching at the professional level in both the NHL and Europe

References

External links

* {{Authority control Towns in Ontario Lower-tier municipalities in Ontario Municipalities in Lambton County History of the petroleum industry in Ontario