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Sinclair Oil Corporation materials, 1893-1977

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Sinclair Oil Corporation
Title
Sinclair Oil Corporation materials
Dates
1893-1977 (inclusive)
Quantity
0.45 cubic ft. (3 containers)
Collection Number
01995
Summary
Photographs, motion picture film, and textual materials about an American oil company and its pipeline operations.
Repository
American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming
American Heritage Center
University of Wyoming
1000 E. University Ave.
Dept. 3924
Laramie, WY
82071
Telephone: 3077663756
ahcref@uwyo.edu
Access Restrictions

There are no access restrictions on the materials for research purposes, and the collection is open to the public.

Languages
English
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Historical Note

Sinclair Oil Corporation was an American petroleum corporation founded by Harry F. Sinclair in 1916 as the Sinclair Oil and Refining Corporation by combining the assets of eleven small petroleum companies. Originally a New York corporation, Sinclair Oil reincorporated in Wyoming in 1976. It was ranked on the list of largest privately-owned corporations in the U.S. It owned and operated refineries, gas stations, hotels, a ski resort, and a cattle ranch.

The Sinclair Pipe Line Company was originally incorporated in 1916 as the Sinclair-Cudahy Pipe Line Company. It underwent a number of reorganizations, absorbing Prairie Oil and Gas Company in 1932, until, along with Sinclair Oil Corporation, it was acquired by Atlantic Richfield Company in 1969. Sinclair Pipe Line Company controlled more than thirteen thousand miles of pipeline, including crude oil lines from Texas, New Mexico, and Wyoming oil fields.

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Content Description

The collection contains photographs that include items on Harry F. Sinclair and his brother Earl W. Sinclair, the Sinclair drugstore in Kansas City, Missouri, Ranger Oil Field in Texas during its boom days in the 1920s, Wyoming Prairie Oil and Gas Company, Sinclair-Cudahy pipeline laying, Sinclair oil fields and equipment, Buckeye pipelaying machines, and scenes of laying pipe from Glenn Pool, Oklahoma, to El Dorado, Arkansas. It also contains typed and printed company histories and a motion picture film titled "Pioneer Pipe Line."

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

Copyright Information

The researcher assumes full responsibility for observing all copyright, property, and libel laws as they apply.

Restrictions on Use

Statement on Potentially Harmful Language and Images Found in Collections

The American Heritage Center aspires to approach all areas of our work in ways that are respectful to those who create, use, and are represented in our collections. For a variety of reasons, however, users may encounter offensive or harmful language or images in some of our finding aids, catalogs, and collection materials.

Note that the AHC does not censor or alter contents of the collections as they provide context and evidence of a time, people, place, or event. Therefore, we encourage users to bring questions and concerns about descriptions in our finding aids to our attention via email or anonymous web-form. For more information, read our full statement.

Preferred Citation

Item Description, Box Number, Folder Number, Collection Name, Collection Number, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

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Administrative Information

Related Materials

There are no known other archival collections created by Sinclair Oil Corporation at the date of processing.

Acquisition Information

This material was received from A.H. Gibson in 1971-1973, L.G. Rogers in 1978, and the University of Wyoming, Coe Library in 2023.

Processing Note

This collection was processed by Katrina Haines in March, 2018, and updated by D. Claudia Thompson in February and August, 2019 and Jamie J. Greene in March 2025.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

Container List
  • Description: "Pioneer Pipe Line," Hartley Productions (motion picture film)
    Dates: 1953
    Container: Box 3
  • Description: Photographs 1-20: Early Operations (miscellaneous photographs of Henry and Earl Sinclair, other people, and work on various pipelines)
    Dates: 1893-1925
    Container: Box 1
  • Description: Photographs 21 to 52: Pipeline Construction (construction of pipeline between Glenn Pool, Oklahoma, and El Dorado, Arkansas)
    Dates: 1909-1910
    Container: Box 1
  • Description: Photographs 53 to 75: Pipeline Construction (early machinery and workers in New York, Oklahoma, and Kansas)
    Dates: circa 1900s
    Container: Box 1
  • Description: Photographic Negatives
    Dates: undated
    Container: Box 1
  • Description: Photographs of Sinclair Oil Operations in Colorado, Oklahoma, and Wyoming
    Dates: 1950s
    Container: Box 1
  • Description: Report: Sinclair-Wyoming Oil Company, Geological Department, Geological Report on the South Park area Teton County, Wyoming
    Dates: 1947-1949
    Container: Box 1
  • Description: Sinclair Appreciation Edition, Independence (Kansas) Daily Reporter (newspaper)
    Dates: February 28, 1951
    Container: Box 2
  • Description: Sinclair Pipe Line Company and other Sinclair subsidiaries (histories; photocopies)
    Dates: 1959
    Container: Box 1
  • Description: "The Tricentennial Report: Letters From America", published by Atlantic Richfield Company (booklet, 3 copies)
    Dates: 1977
    Container: Box 1

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Oil field equipment and supplies industry -- United States.
  • Oil fields -- Arkansas.
  • Oil fields -- Oklahoma.
  • Oil fields -- Texas.
  • Petroleum industry and trade -- Mergers.
  • Petroleum industry and trade -- United States -- Equipment and supplies.
  • Petroleum industry and trade -- United States -- Management.
  • Petroleum industry and trade -- United States.
  • Petroleum pipelines.
  • Pipe-laying machinery.

Personal Names

  • Sinclair, Harry Ford, 1876-

Corporate Names

  • Sinclair Oil and Refining Corporation.
  • Sinclair Pipe Line Company
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