Florida's first discovery

摘要

Drilling for oil in Florida got off to a very slow start. But the hope of production kept the vision alive. Among its records for dry holes, Florida's first - but certainly not last - unsuccessful attempt to find commercially viable oil reserves began in 1901, not far from the Gulf Coast panhandle town of Pensacola. Two test wells were drilled, the first to 1,620 ft (494 m) and the second 100 ft (30 m) deeper. Both were abandoned. Whether that wildcatter was following science or intuition, contemporary accounts of his efforts reveal only a small historical footnote.