The "old" Hope men, now retired, their wives and family members
attended the annual fish fry at Calhoun Park last week, an event
promoted several years ago by Jim Bell and his helpers, who along
with "Duck" Stevens delivered the fish and pickles.
The spread, and it was a spread, was provided by those attending the
event.
Calhoun's oil and gas history is well-connected with the Hope
operation.
In 1898 John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil of New Jersey formed the
Hope Natural Gas Company, the predecessor of CNG Transmission
Corporation and Dominion.
The natural gas industry In West Virginia traces its history back to
1770, when George Washington visited the area and took title to 250
acres surrounding a burning gas and oil spring near Malden.
In the book "Where It All Began," David McKain and Bernard Allen
write that almost simultaneous with Washington's discovery, a
wilderness scout discovered a similar spring just east of Parkersburg
on the Little Kanawha River, long before the discovery at Burning
Springs.
In 1806, the Ruffner brothers discovered oil and gas when they were
drilling for salt in the Great Kanawha River valley near Washington's
site and William Tompkins began producing natural gas at his salt
works near Charleston in 1841.
By 1860 came the oil and gas boom at Burning Springs in Wirt County.
John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil began buying oil and gas interests
in West Virginia in 1875 and eventually had an industry monopoly.
In 1898, five men affiliated with Rockefeller's Standard Oil formed
Hope Natural Gas.
Hope Gas became Calhoun's largest employer during the 1900s. Many
young men yearned to "get on steady with the Hope."
While the local booms have faded into history, lingering deep under
the earth is what many consider to be a priceless new field of gas, to
eventually be tapped by deep well drilling.
Hope's history says, "It's been stated that one of those present
remarked, 'Now that we have made a lot of hopeful plans, hoping to
acquire great volumes of gas and a growing market and hoping the
company will be a success, let's name it the Hope Natural Gas
Company.' "
Standard Oil divested its holdings with Hope in 1943.
The gas companies were combined into Consolidated Natural Gas Co.
based in Pittsburgh and later sold to Dominion Resources in Richmond,
Virginia.
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