BOLIVAR — There are 13 communities named Bolivar in thew United States, but this year marks the 200th anniversary of Bolivar, New York.
A dedicated committee headed by Kelly Lounsberry has been active for over a year planning a bicentennial celebration to take place this summer. Some events have already taken place, but the main celebration will be during the annual Pioneer Oil Days, June 22-29.
The town of Bolivar was formed from the town of Friendship on Feb. 15, 1825. The first meeting to officially name the town and nominate officials took place in Hollis B. Norton’s store on March 21, 1825. Asa Cowles was chosen as supervisor and Austin Cowles was tabbed as the town clerk. The Cowles were among the first permanent white settlers in the Bolivar Valley.
Timothy Cowles and his two sons arrived in the area from Vermont in 1819. According to the history of Bolivar compiled by the Bicentennial Committee, available on its website, “By 1825, enough citizens lived near the confluence of Root Holler and Little Genesee creeks that they decided to form a town. They chose ‘Bolivar’ to honor the then living Liberator of South America, General Simon Bolivar.”
“We were the first town to be named after Simon Bolivar,” said Ethyl Burdick, one of the first curators of the Bolivar Oil Museum. Talking about the articles in the Museum’s Simon Bolivar Room, she continued, “The big statue of him is from the Venezuelan Exhibit from the New York World’s Fair in (1939/1964). The mayor’s brothers asked the exhibitors if we could have it.”
The museum also boasts a smaller metal bust of the Liberator, a gift from the Venezuelan delegation that visited Bolivar in 1984. Other items in the Simon Bolivar Room include a drawing of Bolivar’s home, a portrait based on Venezuelan school children’s conception of the man, selection of artwork given to Bolivar by citizens of Venezuela, a Panamanian mole, a Peruvian llama, a piece of an Incan temple and arts and crafts and literature from South America.
Historically, from 1825 to 1881, the population of Bolivar seldom exceeded 160 residents, who made their livings as farmers, loggers and tanners. On April 27, 1881, that changed when, “A huge oil gusher was struck in the nearby town of Wirt.” Known as the Richburg Discovery well, it produced more than 400 barrels of oil a day, “beginning the oil boom that forever changed the Bolivar valley.”
“Within 10 months of the discovery the population of Bolivar grew … to as many as 12,000 prospectors who moved into the valley to make their fortune in the oil fields. Business exploded with an Opera House, six clothing stores, 14 blacksmiths, four meat markets, seven doctors and 11 attorneys, and a telephone exchange,” according to the history.
Wells were drilled everywhere and by the end of 1882, approximately 7 million barrels of oil had been extracted from the Allegany oil field, mainly in and around Bolivar.
Millionaires were born with the flow of oil and built grand houses along the streets of Bolivar. By 1920 oil production had ebbed, but a new recovery method of flooding the wells with water initiated the second oil recovery and propelled Boliver into a prosperous future.
The history states, “Bolivar was one of the wealthiest communities per capita in New York state,” based on the production of green crude oil.
During World War II the production of oil was declared an essential war industry, and while many local men headed for the battlefields of the Europe and the Pacific, many also stayed in the oil fields. In the 1950s the secondary recovery of oil peaked and oil production declined.
Today the forests of oil wells that once stretched across the fields from Richburg to Bolivar and beyond are preserved in old photographs displayed on the walls of the elegant homes that still grace the streets of Bolivar and in the memories of the children and grandchildren of the oil pioneers.
That history has been celebrated since the 1980s with the annual Pioneer Oil Days. This bicentennial year, Pioneer Oil Days will pay testimony to that Oil Dynasty and the founders of the “Small Town With Big Pride.”
On June 22, the Great Bicentennial Bathtub race will run for the roses on Main Street.
On June 28, the Brothers of the Brush Beard and Mustache Competition will be judged. Winners in five categories will receive cash awards.
Local artist Eric Jones will carve a sand sculpture celebrating Pioneer Oil Days.
Visitors can get their Bicentennial t-shirts, hats, sweatshirts and hoodies at the online Bolivar Bicentennial store.
