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Thorla - McKee Well Historical Marker (reverse)

Location of sign - Intersection of Hwy 78 and 564 east of Caldwell, Ohio.

Photo taken -  September 2007

Photo courtesy of Jimmy Wayne

Text of sign:

Thorla - McKee Well 

Oil and gas caused many problems for Thorla and McKee. Sometimes pressure built up and shot salt water forty feet into the air, 

or oil would take the place of salt water in the well. Frustrated, they drilled a second well in 1816, not far from the first. This well 

was cased with a large hollow sycamore tree and is preserved on this site. A large salt works was set up and salt was manufactured

around the clock. The well also produced one barrel of oil a week. The operation continued until in 1831 fire destroyed the works. 

From 1883-1928 the Bellaire, Zanesville, and Cincinnati Narrow Gauge Railroad ran through this location. The raised railroad bed

is still visible near the well.

Nobel County Department of Tourism, The Ohio Historical Society 1992 1-61

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