Pleasants County Oil and Mining Co. - 1865 dated Stock Certificate

Stock printed by Stein & Jones lith Phila. with 25 cents revenue stamp! Civil War era dated! Pleasants Co., West Virginia., Green County, Penn. Uncancelled and not negotiable.

While Pleasants County has a rich history of oil and gas production, dating back to the 1860s oil boom, there’s no readily available information about a specific entity called the “PLEASANTS COUNTY OIL AND MINING COMPANY” from historical sources. It’s possible that this company was a short-lived venture, a lesser-known local business, or perhaps a subsidiary of a larger operation. During the oil boom periods of the 19th and early 20th centuries, numerous small, speculative companies emerged in oil-rich regions, but not all of them left extensive records. In the absence of primary documentation, the history of this particular firm remains shrouded in mystery.

However, the broader history of Pleasants County’s resource extraction industries is well-documented. Following the discovery of oil, St. Marys became a significant shipping hub on the Ohio River, and the local economy flourished with the establishment of cooper shops to manufacture barrels for transporting oil. A historical stock certificate for a Bull Creek Oil Company, active in the same area in 1864, underscores the prevalence of oil ventures during the Civil War era. While the specific “PLEASANTS COUNTY OIL AND MINING COMPANY” may not be a prominent feature in historical records, it was likely an integral part of this larger, robust, and sometimes chaotic early oil and mining economy that shaped the development of Pleasants County.