Asphaltum, Indiana

Infobox Settlement
official_name = Asphaltum
settlement_type = Town
motto =


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subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_name = United States
subdivision_type1 = State
subdivision_name1 = Indiana
subdivision_type2 = County
subdivision_name2 = Jasper
subdivision_type3 = Township
subdivision_name3 = Gillam
established_title =
established_date =
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latd = 41
latm = 06
lats = 01
latNS = N
longd = 86
longm = 59
longs = 53
longEW = W
elevation_footnotes = GR|3
elevation_ft = 689
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postal_code_type = ZIP code
postal_code = 46392
area_code =
blank_name = FIPS code
blank_info = 18-02512GR|2
blank1_name = GNIS feature ID
blank1_info = [http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=gnispq:3:::NO::P3_FID:430316 430316]
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Asphaltum is an unincorporated community in Gillam Township, Jasper County, Indiana.

Geography

Asphaltum is located at coor dms|41|06|01|N|86|59|53|W|city.

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 east 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 re-vitalize the field. There is a small-gauge oil well which once had a short stone base, in the yard of a house which sits directly east of the former town site.

References