McKenna-Jojo Air Lease, Kane Field, Kane, McKean County, PA

Significance: Pennsylvania is the birthplace of the petroleum industry, signified by the drilling of Edwin Drake's well near Titusville in 1859. Many widely used techniques of drilling and pumping oil were first developed here in the effort to recover the high-quality "Pennsylvania Grade" oil. One particularly important, and successful, technique perfected in Pennsylvania was "central power" pumping of numerous low-production wells to economically recover small amounts of oil. This method of production flourished between ca. 1890 and ca. 1950, and today there are only scattered remains of the once common pumping technique. The McKenna-Jojo Air Lease is a rare example of "air lease" or "air power", a somewhat anomalous power-type developed in the Bradford, Pennsylvania area during the late period of central power development.
Survey number: HAER PA-442
Building/structure dates: ca. 1920 Initial Construction