Burning Springs (2014)

Burning Springs: History of Oil and Gas Industry It is a widely held historical "fact" that Pennsylvania is the birthplace of America's oil and gas industry. Documentation exists, however, that 40 years before Edwin L. Drake struck oil in Titusville, Penn., commercial oil production was underway in the Kanawha and Ohio River valleys. The story of the oil and gas industry is entwined with the story of how and why western Virginia split from Virginia. And it yields a significant event in world history - the first oilfield ever targeted for destruction in war was in Wirt County - along the Little Kanawha River. This hour long documentary is being aired by West Virginia Public Broadcasting.