Harropian Books

[RPPC] Photos of Casper, Wyoming and the 1921 Lightning Strike Midwest Oil Refinery Fires

Doubleday, R.R. [Ralph Russell] and Art Shop

Casper, WY: Doubleday and Art Shop, 1921. RPPC. "On June 17, 1921, it [the lightning strike] set ablaze the Midwest Refining Co. tank farm in Casper, Wyoming... Lightning struck again on July 2, 13 and 18, according to A History of Natrona County, Wyoming." The Denver Fire Journal. This group of photos, having the dates of "June 17-18, 1921" ; "July 2, 1921" ; [n.d.- July 13th?] ; and "July 18, 1921" written in negative, appear to substantiate those dates and events. A nice grouping of seven real photo postcards (RPPC) - all postally unused gelatin silver prints, with three being sepia toned, all developed on AZO stock and measuring c. 3-1/2" x 5-1/2" or the reverse. Three of the photos are credited to [The?] "Art Shop" ; three are credited to the famous Cowboy photographer R.R. Doubleday and one is uncredited. One of the images shows dozens of men on site fighting the fire while one brave soul ascends a ladder leading up into the inferno. The "Main St. Casper Wyo." image is a nice early one - judging by the spoke wheeled vehicles parked on the street and the radical block of stone abandoned in the middle of the road. Near Fine. Item #3976

The Midwest Oil Refinery opened in December, 1911. "By 1920, Wyoming was home to 16 refineries, with two more under construction, and a total capacity of 88,000 barrels of crude oil per day... Casper was Wyoming’s refining powerhouse; by 1926, the city’s refineries could handle 58,500 barrels of crude oil per day, or half the state’s total refining capacity." WyoHistory dot org.

Price: $225.00 CAD  other currencies