“this is one of the most incredible American business success stories in history. Railroads, telegraph, telephone, steel...then aviation, automobiles, Big entertainment, huge food companies, big pharmaceutical...then computers, chips, satellites, telecommunications and e-commerce.”
Ahead of Pipelines, railroads came kerosene, and then oil. If it wasn’t for kerosene, railroads and pipelines would not have followed and that was I think out of the oil fields of Pennsylvania. It was the propagation of kerosene and oil that drove the heavy Industries and created the infrastructure because of the demand across a broad area of the United States.
Don't forget Whale Oil.
Thanks. I knew I was forgetting a major industry — energy. I visited the very first oil well in the US many years ago — the Drake well in Titusville. Until then, oil had been collected from seeps...or by hunting whales.
Energy is what makes every other industry possible!