Oil is known as "Texas Tea."

So, what is the oil in the middle of Birch Run? It's Michigan Oil.

Jack Westbrook wrote the book on this Michigan industry that began with the accidental discovery of oil by a Dow chemist extracting brine in 1925.

"The Saginaw well came in about where Deindorfer Woods is in Saginaw," said Westbrook. "They organized the Saginaw Prospecting Company."

Just three years later, there was another discovery on the Isabella / Midland County line. It's the site of a town with a non-coincidental name.

"Oil City came to be as a result of grocery store, bar restaurant type of deal so you didn't have to go all the way into town," Westbrook said. "That is how the Roosevelt Refinery grew up on East Pickard Street in Mount Pleasant.

"As a result, you had an influx of people from all over the country. By 1935, Michigan was the fourth largest oil producer in the U.S."

The building at the original East Pickard Street site of the Roosevelt Oil Refinery is still standing. In fact, it's the home of Michigan Oil and Gas News -- evidence the oil industry in Michigan is still going strong

"Michigan produces about 21,000 to 22,000 barrels per day depending on your output," said Scott Huber, an engineer for Mount Pleasant-based Summit Petroleum. "Not only does Michigan produce it's own oil, we reap the benefits.

"It brings hundreds of millions of dollars to the state. All the oil produced here, is sold here."

Michigan is ranked 17th of the 34 oil-producing states. But the industry is on the upswing.

A well site near Rosebush will produce 36 times the amount of oil first thought and required help from bigger oil states with equipment you don't usually see in Michigan.

"Texas, Louisiana and Colorado came in for this well for 14 days," Huber said. "We had a lot more excitement than we anticipated.

There might be need for more of that equipment. Bidding for the mineral rights on a recent find in Emmet County, at the tip of the mitten, nearly doubled the amount our state's industry has made since the start.

"This one took in $178 million in one day," Westbrook said. "That's putting down a pretty strong bet at the window that your geological horse will come in."

So, Michigan oil looks to be a hot item again, and just in time for a state that has been economically battered.

"Right now we seem to be going through an aggressive time of drilling, evaluating and finding potential opportunities," Huber said. "Oil activity in Michigan is like a necktie. You don't want to ever throw it away because it might come back in fashion and this year has proved it."

Westbrook's books on the history of Michigan's oil and gas industry can be found at the Clarke Historical Library on the campus of Central Michigan University in Mount Pleasant.