Refinery Museum

Housed in the former Shell Research and Diagnostic Laboratories, the Wood River Refinery History Museum contains ephemera, vehicles, and technologies specific to the working of the oil refinery and sundry Shell Oil ephemera. Holdings focus on the mechanical, scientific, logistical, and institutional workings of the refinery, with a special, miscellaneous collection described by the website as “who knows what all.” Highlights of the collection include cans of paint used to paint Shell stations across the country (known at mid-century as "Shell Yellow, Ditzler PPG #80004"), spark-proof, wooden shoes used to clean the storage tanks, correspondence related to a strange goat herd problem in the refinery grounds, and the haunting last photograph taken of the butane caverns 450' below the museum.