Scio oil fields fueled Harrison County boom in 1901

New Market was laid out by George Turner in 1837 and platted in 1852. In 1855 the Pennsylvania Railroad ran through the village, and a post office was established.

In 1867 Rural Seminary was moved from Harlem Springs to New Market, where it took the name Scio College. The name of the village was changed to Scio in 1895.

Scio had three outstanding claims to fame: its college, the oil boom of 1898 and Scio Pottery.

A new Scio had sprung up, interwoven with the old town yet totally apart from it. Lumber by the railroad carload was still coming in. The town would be still larger if workmen were more plentiful, for money was not being spared in the endeavor.

Oil derricks were everywhere, as seen in the picture. In 1899 the oil boom brought William Gable from Pennsylvania. In 1901 he and his wife would have the future “King of Hollywood,” Clark William Gable, in Cadiz.

Information is from the book “Harrison County Ohio Sesquicentennial,” with the picture and additional information from the Harrison County Historical Society.