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Eldred Refining
Company
The
drilling for oil in the Eldred area took place in the late
1870s, but never saw the success of the oil fields in Duke
Centre and Rixford. With Eldred being a major tranportation
hub for the north/south railroads, the refining and transportation
of crude oil would be the major business. The Pennsylvania
Oil Products Company began construction of a refinery on the
southern edge of the borough in 1912.
The Eldred Refining Company "ELRECO" operated over
200 miles of its own pipelines. These pipelines were connected
to over 2,000 oil wells producing the famous Bradford Amber
Crude. The refinery would operate until the great flood of
1942. The Eldred refinery would cease operations due to the
flood damages and obsolete equipment.
The area of the refinery is currently occupied by the American
Legion Post 887, Taylor & Armstrong and the car wash.
The Betty Blue gas station, which sold gasoline directly from
the refinery, became the Betty Blue bar for many years. It
is currently operating under the name JT's Place. |
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1924:
"The Elreco trade name was changed to Eldred. Two years prior,
one of the large competitors brought suit against the company through
the Patent Office to prevent using the word ELRECO, claiming that
the public was being misled. Their contention is that any syllable
ending in RECO with a prefix is an infringement on their copyright.
The Patent Office has finally rendered a decision, upholding their
contention, which means that not only ourselves, but seven other
oil companies will have to discontinue the use of their brands and
adopt new marks.
We are sure that all of our friends will agree with us that an injustice
has been rendered, and there is no more semblance between the names
than there is between a Maultail and Polecat. We are going to accept
the injustice with a smile, and have therefore decided to adopt
the word ELDRED, which we believe will dovetail in very nicely after
we have all become accustomed to the change. ELDRED OILS will be
identical in every particular to Elreco, the only change being the
name, which is going to fit in with the National advertising campaign
of 100% Pennsylvania Oils now being carried in all the leading publications,
which cannot help but create a tremendous demand for ELDRED products,
made from the Bradford Amber Crude which sells for 50 cents a barrel
more than any other Pennsylvania Crude or any other crude oil produced
in the world."
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