Asphaltum is an unincorporated community in Gillam Township

Gillam Township, Jasper County, Indiana

Gillam Township is one of thirteen townships in Jasper County, Indiana, USA. As of the 2000 census, its population was 723.-Adjacent townships:* Cass Township, Pulaski County * White Post Township, Pulaski County...

, Jasper County

Jasper County, Indiana

As of the census of 2000, there were 30,043 people, 10,686 households, and 8,217 families residing in the county. The population density was 54 people per square mile . There were 11,236 housing units at an average density of 20 per square mile...

, Indiana

Indiana

Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...

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History

Asphaltum is no more. It was platted by B. F. Rouse in 1901 at the peak of an oil boom in the area. It is approximately one mile north and six miles west of Medaryville.

A refinery was built there by the American Lubricating and Refining Company and operated for a short time. The oil wells which led to the town's creation were fed by shallow deposits that soon failed to yield after hundreds of wells were put down in the area. The crude oil given up by these wells was sulphurous and of low quality.

There is no visible sign of the town's existence today, although local lore has it that there are some abandoned tanks behind a house in the vicinity, left after one of the periodic attempts by speculators to revitalize the field. There is a small-gauge oil well which once had a short stone base, in the yard of a house which sits within the official bounds of the former town site.