The so-called Big Inch pipeline, the 1,400-mile oil pipeline from East Texas to Phoenixville built in early World War II helped allies win the war, writes Mark E. Dixon for the Main Line Today.
Built with U.S. taxpayer money, the pipeline went from Phoenixville to oil refineries in Delaware County and New York, protecting the nation’s oil supply from German submarines.
In January 1942, a German submarine torpedoed and sank the first U.S. tanker ships. Another 233 tankers were sunk by submarines over the next five months. At the time, without long-distance pipelines, most oil from Texas reached East Coast refineries using tankers.
The resulting shortage in oil created a problem for Britain and the Soviet Union, which used U.S. oil to supply their war machines.
To circumvent this issue, Washington funded an independent corporation, War Emergency Pipelines, to build the Big Inch. The Chester County section of the pipeline was completed in March 1943. It ran through Schuylkill, Charlestown, East and West Vincent, Upper Uwchlan, Wallace, and Honeybrook townships.
After the war, it got sold and converted for natural gas transmission by private investors.
Read more about the Big Inch pipeline and World War II in the Main Line Today.
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