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Astral Oil Works

January 01, 1970

Astral Oil Works was an American oil company specializing in illuminating oil, and based in Brooklyn, New York. Astral Oil was a high-quality kerosene used in lamps and noted for being relatively safe.[1] It was founded by Charles Pratt. Charles Pratt and Company (including Astral Oil) became part of John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Trust in 1874,[2] although the fact that Astral Oil was a New York branch of Standard Oil in Ohio was not made public until 1892.[1]

Astral Oil Works
Employee housing at the Astral Apartments
IndustryOil industry
Headquarters
United States
ProductsIlluminating oil
OwnersCharles Pratt

History edit

1850s-1860s: Background and formation edit

Astral Oil Works was founded in the Greenpoint section of Brooklyn, New York, by Charles Pratt. Pratt was a pioneer of the petroleum industry who later formed Charles Pratt and Company with Henry H. Rogers.[3] As a young man, Pratt had joined a company in Boston, Massachusetts which specialized in paints and whale oil products. In 1850 or 1851 he moved to New York City, where he worked for a similar company. Pratt realized that whale oil could be replaced by petroleum ("natural oil") distillates to light lamps. He became a pioneer of the petroleum industry as new wells were established in western Pennsylvania in the 1860s. He soon established his kerosene refinery, Astral Oil Works, in Brooklyn, New York.[4] In the mid-1860s, Pratt met two aspiring young men, Charles Ellis and Henry H. Rogers in western Pennsylvania, and later purchased the entire future output of their small venture, Wamsutta Oil Refinery near Oil City, at a fixed price. Pratt had previously bought whale oil from Ellis in Fairhaven, Massachusetts,[citation needed] and had done business with Rogers in the Pennsylvania oil fields starting in 1861. After five years in the oil fields, in 1866 Pratt asked Rogers to come to the Brooklyn side of Pratt's business.[5]

In 1867, Pratt built “America’s first modern oil refinery (Astral Oil) on the banks of Newtown Creek.” Over 50 other oil refineries were then founded along the East River from Williamsburg to Greenpoint, in the same area.[6] While spending eight years in the Brooklyn refinery starting in 1866, Rogers, according to The New York Times, “invented the machinery by which naphtha was first successfully separated from the crude oil. This invention not only made the way for all that has been done since [in 1909] in the use of naphtha and its kindred products, but it made the handling and use of the residual oil far safer than it had ever before, because the volatile constituent had been removed."[5] Rogers moved steadily from foreman to manager, and then superintendent of Pratt's Astral Oil Refinery. Pratt finally gave Rogers an interest in the business. In 1867, with Henry Rogers as a partner, he established the firm of Charles Pratt and Company.[citation needed] In 1869, Pratt trademarked “Pratt’s Astral Oil.”[2] On August 21, 1869, Charles Pratt wrote to the editor of The New York Times that in the Board of Health meeting that month, the company's astral oil came in for "an unintentional consure" after the name was confounded with other parties.[7] The president of the Metropolitan Board of Health apologized for the error within several days, at a meeting on August 25, as it was DEVOE'S patent petroleum which had been deemed unsafe in an investigation, with "Astral" oil not analyzed by the board. The error resulted because the firm DEVOE & PRATT had been dissolved, with the different partners selling different patent oil canned in the same manner, and "sold in Fulton-street at neighboring stores.[8]

1870s: Spread of the Astral Oil brand edit

Specializing in illuminating oil, which had earlier been derived from whale oil, the products of the Astral Oil Works kerosene refinery became famous worldwide in the late 19th century. Company advertising used the slogan, "The holy lamps of Tibet are primed with Astral Oil."[9] In September 1870, Astral Oil was exhibited at the American Institute Fair, after Charles Pratt of No. 108 Fulton-street had a "splendid array of specimens of illuminating oils" displayed.[10]

The Pratt's Astral Oil Guards, numbering 200 men, were organized on the night of August 30, 1871 on Long Island. Mr. Walter of the machine department was elected captain, with most of the men employed at the Pratt establishment at Hunter's Point.[11]

Around 10 o’clock in the evening of January 26, 1873, Pratt's Astral Oil-works on the northern Williamsburg block “bounded by North 12th and North 13th street and extending from First-street to the river”[3] (First Street was renamed Kent Avenue in 1880[12]) was the scene of a large fire, creating shoots of flame at the building that “formed large spiral columns of flame which shot into the air fifty feet high.”[3] Nearby houses were far enough away to not be harmed,[3][13] although great alarm was reported in the neighborhood as different barrels were heard exploding. At the time, about 250 boys and adult men were employed by Pratt, including the workers in the packing-house and box-factory. A small number were employed in the refinery. No deaths were reported due to the fire.[3]

1874-1883: Standard Oil and union busting edit

Charles Pratt and Company (including Astral Oil) became part of John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Trust in 1874.[2] However, the fact that Astral Oil was a New York branch of Standard Oil in Ohio was not made public until 1892.[1] When the Rockefellers absorbed the Pratt interests in 1874, Pratt and Rogers began working under the auspices of Standard Oil Company, where Rogers held a number of executive positions.[5] Pratt and Rockefeller in 1874 began to buy competing refineries in Brooklyn under the Pratt name.[1] They succeeded in driving a number of smaller firms out of business.[1] Around this time, the coopers’ union opposed Pratt's efforts to cut back on certain manual operations, as they were the craftsmen who made the barrels that held the oil. Pratt busted the union, and his strategies for breaking up the organization were adopted by other refineries.[1]

In March 1881, New York City had a smelling committee make the rounds to various stills and waters in Brooklyn. At the time of the examination, the Astral oil works had 20 stills each containing 600 barrels. The Times noted that “it was said here that the noxious gases given off in condensing the petroleum were utilized as fuel to such an extent that from one-half to a whole ton of coal was saved to each furnace.” The city's Health Commissioner noted that Astral had “adopted all the known appliances, and their place was as little of a nuisance as it was possible to make it.[14]

1884-1890s: Growth, fire, and lawsuits edit

By late 1884, Pratt’s new Astral Oil Works in Williamsburg was on Bushwick Creek in the Eastern District of Brooklyn in Northern Williamsburg. The main building of the oil company ran from First-street about 300 feet to “the width of the block" from North Twelfth to North Thirteenth street.[15] On December 21, 1884, a fire at Astral Oil was first noticed when an explosion shook houses and “broke windows for 300 feet" in front of the new Williamsburg Gas Works along North Twelfth Street.[15] The tank on North 12th Street then had a body of flames shoot up from two naphtha tanks, each with the quantity of 2,500 barrels of naphtha in them. The fire then spread.[15] On December 22, 1884, Pratt's Astral Oil Works in Greenpoint burned down. While the naptha storage house burned, the tin shop and refinery were saved by firemen. According to Pratt, much of the damages were insured.[16]

On January 22, 1885, Pratt Manufacturing Company of New York filed a bill in equity against the Astral Refining Company of Oil City in the US Circuit Court of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Pratt Manufacturing Company alleged that the term “Astral” as applied to petroleum was their trademark.[17] In April 1886, a case was heard where Pratt Manufacturing Company sued the Astral Refining Company, Limited, to stop the latter from using the words “Astral Oil” as branding with refined petroleum. The case was dismissed.[2]

Built in 1885–1886 as affordable housing for employees of Astral Oil Works, the Astral Apartments was a massive brick and terra cotta building in the Queen Anne style[18] featuring a three-story-high round arch recess.[19]

1900-1920: Complete absorption by Standard Oil edit

On November 11, 1905, Rogers was on the stand in the Exchange Building in the office of Walter I. Badger for three hours. He testified in a $50,000,000 lawsuit brought by Cadwallader M. Raymond and the estate of B. F. Greenough against him and other Standard Oil operators. The estate sought to recover royalties on a patent that Rogers admitted that Captain Greenough had pledged to Rogers and Pratt for a royalty contract years earlier, which rendered kerosene oil non-explosive.[20]

Pratt founded and endowed the Pratt Institute. Under the Sherman Antitrust Act, Standard Oil Trust was broken up into 34 companies in 1911. Standard Oil's Brooklyn refinery, at 20 acres, burned down in 1919, in what may have been an intentional attempt to clear the land and draw insurance.[6] The former site of Astral Oil Works is now the location of the Bayside Fuel Oil depot at Bushwick Inlet.[21]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d e f M. Snyder-Grenier, Ellen (2004). Brooklyn!: An Illustrated History. Temple University Press. p. 154. ISBN 9781592130825.
  2. ^ a b c d The Federal Reporter, Volume 27. West Publishing Company. 1886. p. 498.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Great Oil Fire; Total Destruction of Pratt's Astral Oil- Works Loss Between $50,000 and $60,000. Another Account". The New York Times. New York City, New York, United States. January 27, 1873. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
  4. ^ Brooklyn Pratt Works 1939 WPA Guide to New York City
  5. ^ a b c "Dual Personality of Henry H. Rogers; A Man of Steel and a Fighter in Business; Gentle, Genial, and Lovable Away from It. Newsboy to Oil Magnate - His Vast Interests in Oil, Railroads, Coppers, and Gas, and His Many Battles in Finance". The New York Times. New York City, New York, United States. May 20, 1909. Retrieved August 15, 2017.
  6. ^ a b "The Brooklyn Oil Spill: A Timeline". Mother Jones. September 14, 2007. Retrieved August 14, 2017.
  7. ^ Pratt, Charles (August 21, 1869). "Astral Oil--Card from the Manufacturer". The New York Times. New York City, New York. Retrieved December 26, 2017.
  8. ^ "BOARD OF HEALTH.; The Mistake Concerning the "Astral" Oil --A Breeze About Private Sessions--Should the Public Know All that the board May Do?--Dismissal of the President's Son". The New York Times. New York City, New York. August 26, 1869. Retrieved December 26, 2017.
  9. ^ Mays, Andrea (April 5, 2016). The Millionaire and the Bard: Henry Folger's Obsessive Hunt for Shakespeare's First Folio. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9781439118252.
  10. ^ "American Institute Fair". The New York Times. New York City, New York. September 10, 1870. Retrieved December 26, 2017.
  11. ^ "LONG ISLAND". The New York Times. New York City, New York. Retrieved December 26, 2017.
  12. ^ "KENT AVENUE, Brooklyn, Part 1 - Forgotten New York". forgotten-ny.com. Retrieved December 22, 2017.
  13. ^ "Minor topics". The New York Times. New York City, New York, United States. January 28, 1873. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
  14. ^ "Where Stenches Abound; A Still-Hunt by the State Board of Health", The New York Times, New York City, New York, United States, March 27, 1881, retrieved August 15, 2017
  15. ^ a b c "Oil Tanks in Flames; Blazing Uncontrolled for Fourteen Hours. The Firemen Powerless to Check the Conflagration - Property Worth Over $2,000,000 Destroyed". The New York Times. New York City, New York, United States. December 22, 1884. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
  16. ^ "The Fire in the Oil Works; Valuable Plan Saved, and the Loss Not So Great as at First Stated". The New York Times. New York City, New York, United States. December 23, 1884. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
  17. ^ "Suit About a Trade Mark". The New York Times. New York City, New York, United States. January 23, 1885. Retrieved August 15, 2017.
  18. ^ "New York Architecture: The Astral Apartments". nyc-architecture.com. from the original on July 8, 2011. Retrieved July 1, 2011.
  19. ^ James T. Dillon and Anne B. Covell (July 1981). . New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Archived from the original on October 19, 2012. Retrieved February 20, 2011. See also: "Accompanying four photos".
  20. ^ "Rogers Hear in Big Suit". The New York Times. New York City, New York, United States. November 12, 1905. Retrieved August 15, 2017.
  21. ^ Astral Oil Works, Novelty Theater, retrieved August 14, 2017

External links edit

  • Picture of Astral Oil Works

January 01, 1970
astral, works, american, company, specializing, illuminating, based, brooklyn, york, astral, high, quality, kerosene, used, lamps, noted, being, relatively, safe, founded, charles, pratt, charles, pratt, company, including, astral, became, part, john, rockefel. Astral Oil Works was an American oil company specializing in illuminating oil and based in Brooklyn New York Astral Oil was a high quality kerosene used in lamps and noted for being relatively safe 1 It was founded by Charles Pratt Charles Pratt and Company including Astral Oil became part of John D Rockefeller s Standard Oil Trust in 1874 2 although the fact that Astral Oil was a New York branch of Standard Oil in Ohio was not made public until 1892 1 Astral Oil WorksEmployee housing at the Astral ApartmentsIndustryOil industryHeadquartersUnited StatesProductsIlluminating oilOwnersCharles Pratt Contents 1 History 1 1 1850s 1860s Background and formation 1 2 1870s Spread of the Astral Oil brand 1 3 1874 1883 Standard Oil and union busting 1 4 1884 1890s Growth fire and lawsuits 1 5 1900 1920 Complete absorption by Standard Oil 2 See also 3 References 4 External linksHistory edit1850s 1860s Background and formation edit Astral Oil Works was founded in the Greenpoint section of Brooklyn New York by Charles Pratt Pratt was a pioneer of the petroleum industry who later formed Charles Pratt and Company with Henry H Rogers 3 As a young man Pratt had joined a company in Boston Massachusetts which specialized in paints and whale oil products In 1850 or 1851 he moved to New York City where he worked for a similar company Pratt realized that whale oil could be replaced by petroleum natural oil distillates to light lamps He became a pioneer of the petroleum industry as new wells were established in western Pennsylvania in the 1860s He soon established his kerosene refinery Astral Oil Works in Brooklyn New York 4 In the mid 1860s Pratt met two aspiring young men Charles Ellis and Henry H Rogers in western Pennsylvania and later purchased the entire future output of their small venture Wamsutta Oil Refinery near Oil City at a fixed price Pratt had previously bought whale oil from Ellis in Fairhaven Massachusetts citation needed and had done business with Rogers in the Pennsylvania oil fields starting in 1861 After five years in the oil fields in 1866 Pratt asked Rogers to come to the Brooklyn side of Pratt s business 5 In 1867 Pratt built America s first modern oil refinery Astral Oil on the banks of Newtown Creek Over 50 other oil refineries were then founded along the East River from Williamsburg to Greenpoint in the same area 6 While spending eight years in the Brooklyn refinery starting in 1866 Rogers according to The New York Times invented the machinery by which naphtha was first successfully separated from the crude oil This invention not only made the way for all that has been done since in 1909 in the use of naphtha and its kindred products but it made the handling and use of the residual oil far safer than it had ever before because the volatile constituent had been removed 5 Rogers moved steadily from foreman to manager and then superintendent of Pratt s Astral Oil Refinery Pratt finally gave Rogers an interest in the business In 1867 with Henry Rogers as a partner he established the firm of Charles Pratt and Company citation needed In 1869 Pratt trademarked Pratt s Astral Oil 2 On August 21 1869 Charles Pratt wrote to the editor of The New York Times that in the Board of Health meeting that month the company s astral oil came in for an unintentional consure after the name was confounded with other parties 7 The president of the Metropolitan Board of Health apologized for the error within several days at a meeting on August 25 as it was DEVOE S patent petroleum which had been deemed unsafe in an investigation with Astral oil not analyzed by the board The error resulted because the firm DEVOE amp PRATT had been dissolved with the different partners selling different patent oil canned in the same manner and sold in Fulton street at neighboring stores 8 1870s Spread of the Astral Oil brand edit Specializing in illuminating oil which had earlier been derived from whale oil the products of the Astral Oil Works kerosene refinery became famous worldwide in the late 19th century Company advertising used the slogan The holy lamps of Tibet are primed with Astral Oil 9 In September 1870 Astral Oil was exhibited at the American Institute Fair after Charles Pratt of No 108 Fulton street had a splendid array of specimens of illuminating oils displayed 10 The Pratt s Astral Oil Guards numbering 200 men were organized on the night of August 30 1871 on Long Island Mr Walter of the machine department was elected captain with most of the men employed at the Pratt establishment at Hunter s Point 11 Around 10 o clock in the evening of January 26 1873 Pratt s Astral Oil works on the northern Williamsburg block bounded by North 12th and North 13th street and extending from First street to the river 3 First Street was renamed Kent Avenue in 1880 12 was the scene of a large fire creating shoots of flame at the building that formed large spiral columns of flame which shot into the air fifty feet high 3 Nearby houses were far enough away to not be harmed 3 13 although great alarm was reported in the neighborhood as different barrels were heard exploding At the time about 250 boys and adult men were employed by Pratt including the workers in the packing house and box factory A small number were employed in the refinery No deaths were reported due to the fire 3 1874 1883 Standard Oil and union busting edit Charles Pratt and Company including Astral Oil became part of John D Rockefeller s Standard Oil Trust in 1874 2 However the fact that Astral Oil was a New York branch of Standard Oil in Ohio was not made public until 1892 1 When the Rockefellers absorbed the Pratt interests in 1874 Pratt and Rogers began working under the auspices of Standard Oil Company where Rogers held a number of executive positions 5 Pratt and Rockefeller in 1874 began to buy competing refineries in Brooklyn under the Pratt name 1 They succeeded in driving a number of smaller firms out of business 1 Around this time the coopers union opposed Pratt s efforts to cut back on certain manual operations as they were the craftsmen who made the barrels that held the oil Pratt busted the union and his strategies for breaking up the organization were adopted by other refineries 1 In March 1881 New York City had a smelling committee make the rounds to various stills and waters in Brooklyn At the time of the examination the Astral oil works had 20 stills each containing 600 barrels The Times noted that it was said here that the noxious gases given off in condensing the petroleum were utilized as fuel to such an extent that from one half to a whole ton of coal was saved to each furnace The city s Health Commissioner noted that Astral had adopted all the known appliances and their place was as little of a nuisance as it was possible to make it 14 1884 1890s Growth fire and lawsuits edit By late 1884 Pratt s new Astral Oil Works in Williamsburg was on Bushwick Creek in the Eastern District of Brooklyn in Northern Williamsburg The main building of the oil company ran from First street about 300 feet to the width of the block from North Twelfth to North Thirteenth street 15 On December 21 1884 a fire at Astral Oil was first noticed when an explosion shook houses and broke windows for 300 feet in front of the new Williamsburg Gas Works along North Twelfth Street 15 The tank on North 12th Street then had a body of flames shoot up from two naphtha tanks each with the quantity of 2 500 barrels of naphtha in them The fire then spread 15 On December 22 1884 Pratt s Astral Oil Works in Greenpoint burned down While the naptha storage house burned the tin shop and refinery were saved by firemen According to Pratt much of the damages were insured 16 On January 22 1885 Pratt Manufacturing Company of New York filed a bill in equity against the Astral Refining Company of Oil City in the US Circuit Court of Pittsburgh Pennsylvania The Pratt Manufacturing Company alleged that the term Astral as applied to petroleum was their trademark 17 In April 1886 a case was heard where Pratt Manufacturing Company sued the Astral Refining Company Limited to stop the latter from using the words Astral Oil as branding with refined petroleum The case was dismissed 2 Built in 1885 1886 as affordable housing for employees of Astral Oil Works the Astral Apartments was a massive brick and terra cotta building in the Queen Anne style 18 featuring a three story high round arch recess 19 1900 1920 Complete absorption by Standard Oil edit On November 11 1905 Rogers was on the stand in the Exchange Building in the office of Walter I Badger for three hours He testified in a 50 000 000 lawsuit brought by Cadwallader M Raymond and the estate of B F Greenough against him and other Standard Oil operators The estate sought to recover royalties on a patent that Rogers admitted that Captain Greenough had pledged to Rogers and Pratt for a royalty contract years earlier which rendered kerosene oil non explosive 20 Pratt founded and endowed the Pratt Institute Under the Sherman Antitrust Act Standard Oil Trust was broken up into 34 companies in 1911 Standard Oil s Brooklyn refinery at 20 acres burned down in 1919 in what may have been an intentional attempt to clear the land and draw insurance 6 The former site of Astral Oil Works is now the location of the Bayside Fuel Oil depot at Bushwick Inlet 21 See also editWamsutta Oil Refinery History of union busting in the United StatesReferences edit a b c d e f M Snyder Grenier Ellen 2004 Brooklyn An Illustrated History Temple University Press p 154 ISBN 9781592130825 a b c d The Federal Reporter Volume 27 West Publishing Company 1886 p 498 a b c d e Great Oil Fire Total Destruction of Pratt s Astral Oil Works Loss Between 50 000 and 60 000 Another Account The New York Times New York City New York United States January 27 1873 Retrieved May 13 2017 Brooklyn Pratt Works 1939 WPA Guide to New York City a b c Dual Personality of Henry H Rogers A Man of Steel and a Fighter in Business Gentle Genial and Lovable Away from It Newsboy to Oil Magnate His Vast Interests in Oil Railroads Coppers and Gas and His Many Battles in Finance The New York Times New York City New York United States May 20 1909 Retrieved August 15 2017 a b The Brooklyn Oil Spill A Timeline Mother Jones September 14 2007 Retrieved August 14 2017 Pratt Charles August 21 1869 Astral Oil Card from the Manufacturer The New York Times New York City New York Retrieved December 26 2017 BOARD OF HEALTH The Mistake Concerning the Astral Oil A Breeze About Private Sessions Should the Public Know All that the board May Do Dismissal of the President s Son The New York Times New York City New York August 26 1869 Retrieved December 26 2017 Mays Andrea April 5 2016 The Millionaire and the Bard Henry Folger s Obsessive Hunt for Shakespeare s First Folio Simon and Schuster ISBN 9781439118252 American Institute Fair The New York Times New York City New York September 10 1870 Retrieved December 26 2017 LONG ISLAND The New York Times New York City New York Retrieved December 26 2017 KENT AVENUE Brooklyn Part 1 Forgotten New York forgotten ny com Retrieved December 22 2017 Minor topics The New York Times New York City New York United States January 28 1873 Retrieved May 13 2017 Where Stenches Abound A Still Hunt by the State Board of Health The New York Times New York City New York United States March 27 1881 retrieved August 15 2017 a b c Oil Tanks in Flames Blazing Uncontrolled for Fourteen Hours The Firemen Powerless to Check the Conflagration Property Worth Over 2 000 000 Destroyed The New York Times New York City New York United States December 22 1884 Retrieved May 13 2017 The Fire in the Oil Works Valuable Plan Saved and the Loss Not So Great as at First Stated The New York Times New York City New York United States December 23 1884 Retrieved May 13 2017 Suit About a Trade Mark The New York Times New York City New York United States January 23 1885 Retrieved August 15 2017 New York Architecture The Astral Apartments nyc architecture com Archived from the original on July 8 2011 Retrieved July 1 2011 James T Dillon and Anne B Covell July 1981 National Register of Historic Places Registration Astral Apartments New York State Office of Parks Recreation and Historic Preservation Archived from the original on October 19 2012 Retrieved February 20 2011 See also Accompanying four photos Rogers Hear in Big Suit The New York Times New York City New York United States November 12 1905 Retrieved August 15 2017 Astral Oil Works Novelty Theater retrieved August 14 2017External links editPicture of Astral Oil Works Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Astral Oil Works amp oldid 1163977689, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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