One of Washington
County's most unique
historic sites is the
location of one of the
first
commercial oil wells
ever drilled in Florida.
Located along a nature
trail at Falling Waters
State Park just three
miles southeast of
Chipley, the site
preserves the little
that remains of the
drilling attempt and
includes an interpretive
display that allows
visitors to read about
the unique effort.
In 1919, following years
of rumors of oil buried
deep beneath the hills
of the area, independent
oil seekers drilled
several wells in eastern
Washington and western
Jackson Counties.
The efforts received
heavy local investment
and became something of
a "treasure hunt,"
fueled in part by a
suspicious document said
to have been writing by
a Spanish explorer
named Jose Matanzas
(read more about this
account by Clicking
Here
).
The oil well at Falling
Waters Hill became a
remarkable achievement.
The drillers built a
wooden derrick and
pushed down to a depth
of 3,900 feet, a
remarkable depth for the
time and location.
At one point they
generated considerable
excitement in the area
by striking a pocket of
natural gas, but no
gusher was ever found.
In the end, the wildcat
effort came to an end
and the well was capped.
Documentation of the
efforts indicates that
the drillers were not
able to find oil in what
they termed "commercial
quantities."
This is a fascination
notation because it does
indicate that they at
least found
something. At the time,
however, it was
considered to costly to
continue the project.
The drilling attempts at
Falling Waters Hill and
other locations in the
area were not all
that far-fetched.
Decades later a large
field of commercial
crude was found in
Northwest
Florida near the
community of Jay.
While the well did not
produce commercial
quantities of oil, it
did eventually give the
people of Washington
County a great treasure.
Many years later, a cow
fell into one
of the sludge pits left
over by the drilling
operation. Heavy
newspaper coverage about
the "dangers" of the
site, combined with a
strong push by civic
minded citizens,
resulted
in a decision by
International Paper to
deed the ground to
Washington County. The
land
formed the core for
today's much larger
Falling Waters State
Park.
