[Boundary Bay Oil Company Boiler House]

Scope and Content: Item consists of a black and white photo of the Boundary Bay Oil Company boiler building and smoke stack located on the tidal flats near the foot of 96 Street (Matthews Rd.). This boiler powered the derrick which in turn drilled into the tidal flats in search of oil.

History / Biographical: The Boundary Bay Oil Company was formed in 1918 and obtained leases on the tidal flats near the foot of Matthews Rd. and drilled a number of wells in search for oil. The first well was drilled in 1919 and shortly after this the derrick caught fire which in turn destroyed the bunk houses, cook house and boiler house located near the rig. The second well was drilled to a depth of 1473 feet and the drill tools were lost at the bottom of the hole. Two more holes were drilled and both ran into difficulties. No oil was ever found but many leases were sold to local residents in hopes of getting rich. A seam of lignite coal was discovered during the drilling process which was said to be 20 ft. thick but no efforts were ever made to recover it. Many were convinced there was oil due to the fact that from time to time gas from the wells caught fire but it was verified as swamp gas. By 1922 the drill reached a total depth of 4,112 ft but still came up empty. The Boundary Bay Oil Company was struck from the register in October of 1958.

Scope and Content: Item consists of a black and white photo of the Boundary Bay Oil Company boiler building and smoke stack located on the tidal flats near the foot of 96 Street (Matthews Rd.). This boiler powered the derrick which in turn drilled into the tidal flats in search of oil.

Acquisition Source: Gwen Szychter purchased 3 photos of the Boundary Bay Oil Company on ebay in Sept. 29, 2010