Westinghouse and the Natural Gas Revolution

In eighteen eighty-four, George Westinghouse drilled a natural gas well on his Pittsburgh estate called Solitude, the land that is now Westinghouse Park. When the drill bit hit gas, an uncontrolled geyser erupted and roared for an entire week before workers could cap it. Most people would have seen a problem.

Westinghouse saw an opportunity. Within about three years he had obtained more than thirty patents covering methods for safely distributing and using natural gas in homes and factories. His systems made natural gas practical at industrial scale for the first time, helping to shift American manufacturing away from coal-fed steam and toward cleaner, more controllable gas power.

Westinghouse is better known for alternating current and air brakes, but the work that began on this Pittsburgh hillside quietly reshaped how America heats its buildings and runs its machines.