Transportation Since 1775

Large flow chart describing how oil has rapidly accelerated the Transportation Revolution of the 20th century.

This visual catalog of transportation history was published in 1959 by the American Petroleum Institute in Washington, D.C. Four columns of illustrated methods of vehicular movement chronicle the development of technology on roads and rails, in the air, and across the waves.

The catalyst for the rapid development after the mid-19th century is clearly attributed to the discovery of Drake’s Oil Well in 1859 – considered the first commercially viable oil discovery in the United States and the start of the American petroleum industry.

Further images along the bottom of the sheet provide a chronological depiction of petroleum’s transportation across the ages, from river barges and horse drawn carriages to modern tanker ships and trucks. An interesting piece of persuasive petroliana issued by one of the largest and most influential private energy groups on the planet.