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Book and Book Well Drilling
can trace their origin back
over 100 years to 1881 when
David Floyd Book, at the age
of 12, took over the
operation of his father's
drilling machine due to the
latter being incapacitated
by an injury. D. Floyd
continued on with the well
drilling business.
Eventually three of his four
sons followed in his
footsteps as each one of the
boys began their own water
well business in the
Lawrence County area.
The mainstay of Book and
Book Well Drilling was a
Star Drilling Machine. The
1920 Star, Model 32A was
purchased by D. Floyd when
his older pre-World War I
machine with a one-cylinder
upright engine quit while
drilling in sandrock and by
the time the engine was
restarted, the drilling
tools were stuck on the
bottom by the accumulated
sandrock cuttings. The new
rig with a Le Roi
four-cylinder engine was
ordered and delivered to New
Castle via railroad.
Following the retirement of
D. Floyd Book, the business
was taken over by his son,
Elmer L. Book. Elmer kept
the rig busy drilling blast
holes for a local sandstone
quarry. World War II
interrupted Elmer's
operation of the business as
he was inducted into the
Army and serviced his
country in the Philippines.
Following the return to
peacetime, Elmer immediately
went back to work drilling
domestic wells for the
post-war housing boom.
Elmer continued drilling
wells with the Star Mode 32A
throughout the 1950's and
60's. The late 1960's
witnessed the entrance of
Elmer's youngest son, Thomas
G. Book into the well
drilling profession. Thomas
had just returned from the
Viet Nam war and immediately
joined his father in the
family business. A new
Bucyrus Erie 20W cable tool
machine was purchased to
handle the heavier drilling
demands of the larger wells.
Elmer
retired in 1978 after over
40 years in the water well
contracting business. His
son, Tom, took over and
continued to grow the
business. He expanded the
well drilling operations
into Butler and Mercer
counties and in 1998 he
purchased a Bucyrus Erie 22W
cable tool rig enabling him
to continue to drill more
wells with increased
efficiency.
Book and Book Well Drilling
expanded its product line in
1986 to include a complete
line of water treatment
systems that can
dramatically
improve the taste of your
water while removing
unpleasant odors, removing
hardness and iron, while
protecting the piping in
your water system.
Book and Book Well Drilling
is owned and managed by
Thomas Book and his wife
Cynthia. Tom's son-in-law,
Ronald Wimer and his son
Raymond recently joined the
family business. Today
you'll find Tom, Ron and Ray
drilling and servicing water
wells and installing and
maintaining pump and water
treatment systems in the
tri-county area. Cindy
works in the office assuring
that your paperwork is
handled efficiently. Book
and Book Well Drilling has
endured and grown to its
present status by adhering
to the belief that top
quality installations and
the best possible service
are the only way to run a
business.
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