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March 19, 2024



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History - Industry




Lucesco Cannel Oil Refinery,

Allegheny Township, 1858


The Lucesco oil refinery was an oil-manufacturing establishment making cannel coal oil, and was started in 1858 by Dr. Alter and others of Freeport. It employed a hundred and fifty men, and built thirty houses near its works, a few hundred yards south of the Western Pennsylvania Railroad Junction. It was operated a few years, when the discovery of petroleum oil at Oil City by Dr. Drake caused its abandonment, as it could not compete with the newly-discovered petroleum.


Dr. David Alter


Cannel Oil: Oil refined from bituminous coal which burns brightly like a candle--thus, cannel coal and cannel oil.

Western Pennsylvania Railroad Junction: Also known as Kiskiminetas Junction, it is located where the Kiskiminetas River flows into the Allegheny. The refinery is about one quarter mile south of the confluence, opposite Freeport, Pennsylvania.






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