Been swamped at work for the past couple of weeks so posting has been very slow. Going back and forth between Blacksburg burns up a lot of time and I caught a nasty cold in the process but I am thankful that the business is still relatively busy.
There is a fair amount of stuff going on this coming week. There is a Council meeting on Monday and I believe the final budget vote is then. On Tuesday there is a meeting of the Ad-hoc Fire and Rescue meeting that is going to sort through some of the issues with the new departmental structure, etc. I’m also reasonably sure there is a finance meeting on Wed and since Smith is no longer on the Council, I’ll have to go to that too!
I’m trying to keep City business during the day to a minimum but there is also a meeting with the state economic dev. department one day at lunch. Plenty to do!
Also have to start weeding the garden, training the peas and cucumbers – if the cucs are still alive. They looked as though they had drowned or something when I looked on Thursday. Might be replanting.
May 9, 2009 at 7:38 pm
I was able to get out and whack grass today. But I have lost half my cucs.
May 13, 2009 at 4:00 pm
“A Flyer In Oil
Is Worth A Lifetime of Toil –
Why Work Hard if You Have
Money That Will Work Hard For You?
The Penn-Vir Oil Co. has just completed a well near Manassas
and it is gushing 5,000 barrels a day! A monument should be
erected to those whose faith brought it to pass.
Manassas has the best waterworks, lights and streets of any town
in Virginia and every man, woman and child here will benefit
by the finding of oil. Those who enjoyed prophesying failure
now regret they did not buy our first stock offering.
Better invest your money today for tomorrow may be too late!
I will fill your order promptly, M.B. Nicol – Manassas, Va.”
The Manassas Journal
(May 19, 1911)
So, while you folks are out gardening, keep a lookout for
gushers – we could use a few around town now that oil/gas prices
are headed back up.
May 13, 2009 at 9:39 pm
“near Manassas”?
Any indication where that well was?
May 14, 2009 at 9:04 am
Not sure exactly where the well was located.
The Manassas Democrat (March 7, 1912) reported
“Sold Under Hammer, Penn-Vir Hopes Gone –
Hopes and $15,000 are sunk 1,500 feet deep and the
drill is broken off in the Penn-Vir well in the Nokesville
oil field. There is no prospect that drilling
will be resumed.
Penn-Vir was organized early in the winter of 1909
to explore the Nokesville field, surface indications and
outcroppings of paraffine providing encouragement oil
would be found.
Fortune and hard rock strata frowned upon the enterprise
from the beginning, but many still believe that oil in high
paying quantities exists in the Nokesville field.”
(Anyway, I find it another interesting footnote in Manassas area
history. The period from 1900 to 1930 was a period of grand
plans locally. The same paper that noted the demise of
Penn-Vir also reported “Rally For Manassas On International
Highway – Enthusiasm prevails this afternoon at the International
Highway Rally in Conner’s Hall under the direction of the
Manassas Good Roads Association.” plus Eastern College and
the Hopkin’s Candy Factory were being constructed. Two years
later, a Southern Railroad VP, speaking to local business leaders,
saw the future of Manassas as a center of “Transportation,
higher education and the production of quality candy.”