Oil and Gas Museum

McKain's work led to more than just a publication. While researching the book with co-author, Bernard Allen, a history professor at West Virginia University in Parkersburg, McKain also established the Oil & Gas Museum in Parkersburg.

The Museum features a collection of artifacts, papers and documents from the oil and gas industry. It also has a replica of an old oilfield office.

The nonprofit museum is housed in a four-story building, and the first floor is already filled up with artifacts. "We're working on the second floor now," he said.

Retired petroleum geologist and AAPG member George Grow Jr. recently donated an historic oil well site at Burning Springs in Wirt County, W.Va., to the museum to help create a memorial and park recognizing Burning Springs' role as the first West Virginia oil boomtown.

The well is located about 30 miles from the museum, which is in downtown Parkersburg.

Grow, of Westfield, N.J., deeded the well site along with five acres of land adjacent to the museum.

"They're going to try to clean it out and pump a little bit of oil," Grow said. "It hasn't been active in many years."

Once it is refurbished, he said, it will be the oldest producing well in the world.