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Around 1917, the Kelly Well Company was organized by the Kelly brothers: William, Martin, Robert and Thomas. The brothers were now partners.

We have here some fabulous pictures from 1915 of William Kelly with a well digging rig. Seeing how the photos are dated 1915, but the well company wasn't officially organized until 1917, one could speculate that these were taken during the planning stages. Was this an early rig owned by the company, or were these photos taken of someone else's rig to illustrate to the brothers what they'd be getting in to?

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It's pretty amazing to see these apparently rickety contraptions up close (held together by rope!) -

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When first looking at these pictures and reading up a bit on well drilling and it’s history, we assumed that this rig was a “cable tool” rig, the oldest form of drilling machinery, one that is still used today. The other option would be that it’s a rotary drilling rig, but it seemed like that would be unlikely in 1915. However, here are some close up pictures that resemble a rotary tool:

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Perhaps these pictures are of something else entirely? We’re not exactly sure. If there are any drilling experts/historians out there, we’d love to hear from you. Please don’t hesitate to share any information you might have in the comment box below!

Now on to the most interesting aspect of this story, a teaser for a later post:

William Kelly actually held the patents for well casings that made it possible to dig deeper and more consistent wells. It involved forming concrete well casings, and the technology he developed was used all over the U.S., dominant up until the 1970s when PVC casing took over.

We'll try and "dig up" some more info on that technology and the patent for a later history story.