Oil Region - The Valley That Changed the World

Oil Region - The Valley That Changed the World

Official Guide

published by Oil Region Alliance, Oil City, PA  2009

Paperback

6 x 9 inches, 42 pages

see Table of Contents

Oil City is a city in Venango County, Pennsylvania, that is known in the initial exploration and development of the petroleum industry. After the first oil wells were drilled nearby in the 1850s, Oil City became central in the petroleum industry while hosting headquarters for the Pennzoil, Quaker State, and Wolf's Head motor oil companies. Tourism plays a prominent role in the region by promoting oil heritage sites, nature trails, and Victorian architecture. The population was 10,557 at the 2010 census.

In the early 17th century, the Seneca nation first settled in the region; by, the late 18th century Chief Cornplanter was given three tracts of land as a "gift" from the state of Pennsylvania. In 1818, local prospectors purchased the land and built a blast furnace, which closed in the early 1850s. As population in the area began to decline, Colonel Edwin L. Drake drilled the first commercially successful oil well on August 27, 1859, in nearby Titusville. A number of boomtowns came to life in the region, including Oil City, Titusville, Petroleum Center, Pithole, and Rynd Farm.

Barges were used to transport the oil down Oil Creek and into Oil City, where it was transported to steamboats or bulk barges to continue on to Pittsburgh and other locations. Oil City was founded in 1860, incorporated as a borough in 1868, and chartered as a city in 1874. The Borough of Oil City was incorporated as a city in 1871. The city was partially destroyed by flood in 1865 and by both flood and fire in 1866 and again in 1892; on this last occasion, several oil tanks that were struck by lightning gave way, and Oil Creek carried a mass of burning oil into the city, where some 60 lives were lost and property valued at more than $1 million was destroyed. Oil City grew into a thriving community through the later half of the 19th century and into the 20th century. By the 1990s, Pennzoil, Quaker State, and Wolf's Head had all relocated their headquarters elsewhere. However, some oil wells continue to produce a steady supply of quality petroleum.

Regional governments and public organizations promote tourism by thoroughly educating the public about oil history. Oil City's location along the Allegheny River in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains provides excellent opportunities for exploring Northwestern Pennsylvania.

The Oil City Downtown Commercial Historic District, Oil City North Side Historic District, Oil City South Side Historic District, National Transit Building, and Oil City Armory are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Oil City, Pennsylvania is located at the confluence of the Allegheny River and Oil Creek at 41°25′42″N 79°42′26″W. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 4.7 square miles (12 km2), of which, 4.5 square miles (12 km2) is land and 0.2 square miles (0.52 km2) (4.65%) is water.

Many layers of rock and sedimentary material containing fossils can be seen on the bluffs in and around Oil City. Oil City is framed by the surrounding foothills with the Allegheny River winding through downtown.

The Allegheny River and Oil Creek freeze occasionally during the winter, sometimes causing ice jams; although remediation by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has reduced ice formation via a floating ice control structure on the river and a fixed concrete weir on the banks of the creek. Flooding of the river flats is a possibility throughout the year due to ice jams, excessive snow melt, large volume storms and hurricane or tropical storm remnants.

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Titusville is a city in Crawford County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 5,601 at the 2010 census, and the city is part of the Meadville, PA Micropolitan Statistical Area and Erie-Meadville, PA Combined Statistical Area. Titusville is where the modern oil industry began.

Titusville was a slow-growing community until the 1850s, when petroleum was discovered in the region.

Oil was known to exist here, but there was no practical way to extract it. Its main use at that time had been as a medicine for both animals and humans. In the late 1850s Seneca Oil Company (formerly the Pennsylvania Rock Oil Company) sent Col. Edwin L. Drake, to start drilling on a piece of leased land just south of Titusville near what is now Oil Creek State Park. Drake hired a salt well driller, William A. Smith, in the summer of 1859. They had many difficulties, but on August 27 at the site of an oil spring just south of Titusville, they finally drilled a well that could be commercially successful.

Teamsters were needed immediately to transport the oil to markets. Transporting methods improved and in 1862 the Oil Creek & Titusville Railroad was built between Titusville and Corry where it was transferred to other, larger east-west lines. In 1865 pipelines were laid directly to the rail line and the demand for teamsters practically ended. The next year the railroad line was extended south to Petroleum Centre and Oil City. The Union City & Titusville Railroad was built in 1865. That line became part of the Philadelphia & Erie Railroad in 1871. That fall, President U. S. Grant visited Titusville to view this important region.

Other oil-related businesses quickly exploded on the scene. Eight refineries were built between 1862 and 1868. Drilling tools were needed and several iron works were built. Titusville grew from 250 residents to 10,000 almost overnight and in 1866 it incorporated as a city. In 1871, the first oil exchange in the United States was established here. The exchange moved from the city, but returned in 1881 in a new, brick building before being dissolved in 1897.

The first oil millionaire was Jonathan Watson, a resident of Titusville. He owned the land where Drake's well was drilled. He had been a partner in a lumber business prior to the success of the Drake well. At one time it was said that Titusville had more millionaires per 1,000 population than anywhere else in the world.

One resident of note was Franklin S. Tarbell whose large Italianate home still stands. He first moved a few miles south in Venango County and established a wooden stock tank business. About 10 miles (16 km) southeast of Titusville was another oil boom city, Pithole. Oil was discovered in a rolling meadow there in January 1865 and by September 1865 the population was 15,000. But the oil soon ran dry and within four years the city was nearly deserted. Tarbell moved to Titusville in 1870. His daughter, Ida Minerva Tarbell, grew up amidst the sounds and smells of the oil industry. She became an accomplished writer and wrote a series of articles about the business practices of the Standard Oil Company and its president, John D. Rockefeller, which sparked legislative action in Congress concerning monopolies.

Fire was always a fearful concern around oil and one of the worst was on June 11, 1880. It came to be known as "Black Friday," when almost 300,000 barrels (48,000 m3) of oil burned after an oil tank was hit by lightning. The fire raged for three days until it finally was brought under control. Although the oil was valued at $2 million, there was no loss of life. Another fire occurred on June 5, 1892, when Oil Creek flooded and a tank of petroleum ether overturned. The petroleum ether ignited and in the ensuing explosions 60 men, women and children died. Another lightning strike in 1894 resulted in 27,000 barrels (4,300 m3) lost in a fire.

Oil production in Pennsylvania peaked in 1891, when other industries arose in Titusville. The iron and steel industries dominated the town in the early twentieth century with lumber eventually reclaiming its former cachet. Oil is still relevant, however. Charter Plastics Company, now located in a building that once manufactured pressure vessels, stationary engines and boilers for the oil industry, uses oil in its production process.