Rockefeller VS Pennsylvania Railroad
By 1877, Rockefeller believed that the extensive pipelines owned by his company were a practical alternative to shipping his products by rail, and he started to look for the means to build them. The Pennsylvania Railroad thought the pipelines were part of the rail companies because they had the easements needed to locate them across the country.
Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper from August 1877 about the Great Railroad Strike. Photo by Granger / Shutterstock
The PRR (Pennsylvania Railroad) started purchasing and building pipelines, supported by their existing rail network. They also started buying oil refineries so that they could feed these pipelines, something Rockefeller viewed as a war against Standard Oil. Not surprisingly, this wasn’t something he would tolerate since he had been trying to monopolize the oil industry.