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Volcano Days recalls rise and fall of oil boomtown

By Gwen Sour 3 min read

WAVERLY -- Stories of an oil boomtown offered visitors a look at the Mid-Ohio Valley's past Saturday afternoon during Volcano Days at Mountwood Park.

The annual celebration honored Volcano, a town that once flourished along the border of Wood and Ritchie counties. Antique engines, crafts, vendors, children’s activities and food were among the weekend's attractions, according to the park's website.

Moumtwood Park Director Jeremy Cross said the weather was great throughout the weekend with large crowds each day.

"It was a real large crowd," he said, adding they do not have a way to do an exact attendance count. He said the people came out Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

With rain earlier in the week, organizers were worried how it would impact the weekend festival.

"The sun came out and dried everything up," Cross said. "The weather was perfect and that ended up being great."

Cross believes the Volcano Days is year was a success.

"Overall, it was an excellent show," he said. "We had a lot of hit-and-miss engines show up, there were a lot of vendors and crafters who came out.

"There were a lot of families who came out to see what we had. It was just an overall great weekend for Mountwood Park and Volcano Days."

Dan Lipscomb, of DanMade Knives and Blacksmith, said his appreciation for older equipment and "the old way of doing things" drew him to the event.

Lipscomb brought a forge for public demonstrations. He said his work includes knives, outdoor cooking tripods and cooking utensils.

The Wood County Flywheelers made an appearance with members exhibiting dozens of gas- and steam-powered machines, in tribute to the festival. Vernon and Harley Stewart were among the members who displayed their engines during the festival.

“My father’s been a member for years and I’m just following in his footsteps,” Harley said.

Luke Davis, an Ohio resident, said he and his friends didn’t know the festival was happening but had planned to come to the park that weekend, but attended the festival instead.

“We were going (to go) hiking, and then we pulled in and…said it looked interesting," he said.

Oil production began in Volcano in 1865, and by 1873 the town had become a center of oil production in West Virginia, according to historical information shared at the Volcano Museum.

Several thousand people once lived in the town, which had an opera hall and businesses serving the community, according to the museum. Railroad service connected Volcano to Parkersburg through the Baltimore and Ohio line.

The park credits Volcano with being the first oil field in the United States to use the endless cable pumping system.

The Laurel Fork and Sand Hill Railroad was built between 1866 and 1869 at a cost of $160,000, according to the website.

In 1879, the West Virginia Transportation Co. completed a pipeline from Volcano to a pumping station at Murphytown. The park identifies it as the first pipeline built within West Virginia.

The boomtown's fortunes eventually changed. An account shared at the museum described a fire that raged through Volcano and hurt the town’s population.

"The fire was very devastating," said Rose Russell, who developed the Volcano Museum's timeline. “It started just going down and down - a slow decline.”

Efforts to remember Volcano date back more than a century. According to the park's website, former residents and friends began gathering for an annual dinner in 1893 to commemorate the town's history and legacy.

Staff Writer Brett Dunlap contributed to this story.

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