Sign Marking America’s 1st Oil Discovery Reported Missing

CUBA, N.Y. (AP) — A New York state historical marker placed near the spot where Europeans first discovered petroleum in North America has been reported missing.

Norm Ungermann, a legislator in Allegany County in the Southern Tier, tells the Olean Times Herald (http://bit.ly/2nw0VJY ) that a local resident recently noticed the cast iron blue and yellow sign was missing from where it had stood for 85 years in the rural town of Cuba.

The sign reads "Seneca Oil Spring" and says the first petroleum in America was discovered in 1627 a mile to the north. A French priest exploring the region was shown oil pooled on the ground near an Indian village.

That spot is now part of the Oil Spring Indian Reservation, one of three Seneca Indian Nation reservations in western New York.