Was There Oil Found in Pembroke Township?

While oil exploration has occurred in the broader Kankakee Valley area, including attempts near Pembroke Township, no commercially viable oil fields or significant ongoing oil production have been established in Pembroke Township or Kankakee County.

Relevant Oil Facts

• Exploration History: Oil exploration has a history in the Kankakee Valley region. An account from the early 20th century describes an oil well being drilled near Thayer (likely in Indiana, but in the general region), which produced a pocket of natural gas for a time, but generally, wells in the area were not significant producers.

• Geological Context: Most producing oil wells in Illinois are located in the southern half of the state within the Illinois Basin, a geological structure known for its oil-bearing strata. Kankakee County is in the northern part of the state, outside the primary production area of the Illinois Basin.

• Current Status: Records from the Illinois State Geological Survey (ISGS) indicate oil production occurs in 40 of Illinois' 102 counties, predominantly in the south. There is no mention of commercial oil production or active oil fields in Pembroke Township in modern records.

• Community Focus: Pembroke Township is primarily known as a rural, historically Black community that has faced economic challenges, with recent initiatives focusing on clean energy programs and addressing existing environmental contamination issues, rather than oil production.

While extensive oil production has not occurred in Pembroke Township, a nearby area in Kankakee County known as the Herscher Anticline did have several small oil wells drilled in the early 1900s.

Kankakee County Context

Herscher Anticline: The presence of a geologic structure (anticline) in the subsurface bedrock near Herscher, about 12 miles west-southwest of the city of Kankakee, was identified in the early 1900s through the drilling of several small oil wells. This structure is now primarily used for the underground storage of natural gas.

Pembroke Township Resources: Pembroke Township is primarily known as a large, rural, African American community, historically challenged by poor soil conditions for profitable farming. Recent news and federal programs have focused on addressing environmental contamination from past industrial sites (like the Cross Brothers Pail Recycling Superfund site) and helping residents convert home heating sources from fuel oil to electric heat pumps, rather than on local oil production.

Most of the significant oil production in Illinois is located in the southern part of the state within the Illinois Basin, far from Kankakee County. The Illinois Basin covers southern Illinois, western Indiana and western Kentucky.

In summary, the Kankakee County area has seen some minor, historic oil exploration activity, but there are no indications of major oil fields or ongoing commercial production in Pembroke Township itself.