Industry
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Invented by W. C. Stiles and installed here in the 1870s by Volcanic Oil & Gas Co., the endless cable system pumped as many as 40 wells from a central power station through a system of graduated handmade wooden wheels and cables that conveyed motion to the walking beam and sucker rod. It required one engine and one operator, enabling profitable operation of low-production wells until it was dismantled in 1979. This was also the site of the state’s first oil pipeline.
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West Virginia · United States
