Oct 15, 2025 By Brad Hundt 4 min read

In 1882, nature put on quite a show in Mt. Pleasant Township.

In March of that year, the Niagara Oil Co. was poking around in the earth at the farm of Alexander McGugin, on a hunt for oil and gas. It was about 23 years after the first gas well was drilled 120 miles to the north in Titusville, and entrepreneurs were on the lookout for natural gas, which could be used for lighting, cooking and heating.

Eventually, the company hit paydirt. A little more than 2,000 feet beneath the surface, they struck gas. In those relatively primitive times, the gas caught on fire and then burned for two years. People would travel from miles around to watch the flames head to the heavens. Sometimes they would have picnics as they watched the flames leap into the sky. It was given the nickname “The Mighty McGugin.”

In an article in a 1965 edition of The Washington Observer, columnist W.A. Lindsey wrote, “The roar of the escaping gas could be heard for many miles from the well and the great light from the burning well lighted the whole countryside at night. The light in the sky could be seen for many miles around and this attracted people from far and wide.”

In its heyday, the McGugin gas well provided the largest flow of gas in the world, and supplied much of Pittsburgh’s gas needs. In 1967, the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission recognized the importance of the McGugin farm and the oil and gas boom that hit Washington County in the late 1800s by putting a historical marker up near the site of the farm at the intersection of Henderson and Caldwell roads.

At some point in the last several years, though, the marker disappeared.

No one knows where it went and it’s never been recovered.

The disappearance of the marker meant that passersby were unable to learn about a noteworthy piece of local history. For Robin Reininger, the marker’s absence also meant a key event in her family’s history was not being commemorated. Alexander McGugin was her great-great grandfather.

“I actually lived within walking distance of the marker when I was going up,” Reininger said. “I remember when I was about 10 years old, my grandfather took me to the old marker, and then the gas well site, which is walking distance from there. Today, it’s completely overgrown.”

Now 69 and a retired corporate consultant living outside Orlando, Fla., Reininger got in touch with the Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office and was able to have a replacement marker made. It was installed on Sept. 14.

Reininger found out the marker had vanished when she was digging deep into her family’s history.

“About 10 years ago, when I started doing the research, I called the township and they didn’t know where it went,” Reininger said. “That’s when I contacted the Historic Preservation Office.”

She continued, “It’s not only that we have a rich family history, but (the gas well) was very important at the time.”

As the 1880s progressed, Washington County became an oil and gas epicenter. One oil well north of Washington generated up to 17,000 barrels of oil per day. Communities like Burgettstown and Cross Creek were also getting in on the action. Wells were so prevalent in the community that Washington & Jefferson College had them at the intersection of Main Street and Park Avenue in Washington where Cameron Stadium is now located.

The marker commemorating the McGugin gas well now takes its place in Washington County with 58 other state historical markers that remember people like the labor leader Joseph Yablonski, events like the 1948 Donora Smog and places like the LeMoyne Crematory.

What happened in Mt. Pleasant Township all those years ago “might be interesting to young people who have no idea about it,” Reininger said. “I just think it’s fascinating that it happened.”