https://www.wvhistoryonview.org/catalog/030871https://www.wvhistoryonview.org/image/030871.jpgEarly Oil Wells Historic Marker on U. S. Route 50 in Ritchie County, W. Va.1950Historical markers--West Virginia--Ritchie County.Historic Markers.Petroleum industry and trade--West Virginia."Early Oil Wells--To the south, birthplace of West Virginia's oil industry. On Hughes River oil was found in gravel beds in 1810. As "bank oil," a medicine, Bushrod Creel sold 100 barrels of it per year in 1836. Volcano was one of first boom oil towns."West Virginia History OnView