Oil Creek - where it all began

[Canawler]

My wife and I took a road trip over the holiday weekend to the Titusville / Oil City / Oil Creek area of Pennsylvania to ride a few rail trails and visit the sites where the oil boom began. We visited the area about three years ago but at that time I wasn't into oil and really didn't know the history involved. I've since read up it, and it was fun to visit everything again with a little more insight. I highly recommend a visit to the area if you have any interest in oil and suggest you bring your bikes for a ride on the paved trail thru Oil Creek State Park. Also, if you are into biking, there are at least 60 miles of paved rail trails in the area.
Here are a few pictures from this past weekend and a few from our first visit:

Oil Creek as viewed from the bike trail in the state park

replica of the Drake well derrick (first successful oil well) on the original site

actual Drake well hole
The docent said they have to replace the casing about every 15 years and when left uncapped overnight the well still fills with oil.

Oil Creek and Titusville railroad
This is a tourist train that travels thru Oil Creek State Park and features the only rail post office still in use.

Pithole then...
diarama of Pithole City (sorry about the glass glare)
Pithole City was the "textbook" oil boom town that went from a farm in January 1865 to a city of 15,000 by that September and then was gone within a year or so.

Pithole now...

a view of Pithole's main st. with a picture of what it did look like

continued....

 

[Johnny]

Very nice. Did you go to Oil City and Roushville?

 

[Canawler]

continued...

This is the McClintock well, now owned by the state museum commission.

We stayed at the Caboose Motel in Titusville

inside of Caboose room

Of course, I had to get the crude oil souvenirs.
Drake Well / crude from Pithole City / crude from McClintock well

Also, here's a pic of another interest of mine, iron furnaces
This is in the area, along the Allegheny River

Freedom Falls just above the iron furnace

 

[Canawler]

Originally Posted By: Johnny
Very nice. Did you go to Oil City and Roushville?


We did drive around Oil City, Titusville, and Franklin but not Roushville. The victorian homes in all the small towns up there are absolutely incredible. It's a shame to see the downtown areas, though. Other than in Franklin, all the store fronts are vacant and many of the buildings are falling into disrepair. When the oil companies left, it seems to have devastated the area, similar to the steel mills leaving all over PA. They are trying desparately to build back up with tourism and it may eventually work.

 

[jcwit]

Sure looks polluted to me, just think what ANWAR will look like. Believe me this is scarcasm.

 

[Pablo]

Wow - great thread. I sure would love to visit the area.

 

[addyguy]

Great pics - thanks!

Y'know, its been so long since that area was a 'regular oil producer' that I wonder if the applied really modern/high tech techniques (deep well technology, horizontal drilling) for extraction to those holes, if they wouldn't start producing commercial amounts of oil still.

 

[Canawler]

Originally Posted By: jcwit
Sure looks polluted to me, just think what ANWAR will look like. Believe me this is scarcasm.


You have no idea. I am truly amazed at how well this planet can clean itself up. Everything is heavy forest now. If I didn't see all the photos of what this valley looked like just 140 years ago I would never believe it. These hills had been virtually stripped of all living things by decades of heavy logging followed by the oil boom. Take a hike or ride thru Oil Creek State Park now and it is beautiful. There are remnants of oil wells scattered about in the woods but you have to know where to look and what to look for. I did notice one point on the trail that had a very strong odor of crude.

I am going to include a couple of pictures I took of old photographs hanging in one of the museums. They aren't great quality but they show just how badly this whole area was stripped. Compare these with the first picture I posted.

 

[harley145000]

very cool

 

[Julian]

Wow, very interesting. Thanks.

 

[alreadygone]

Thanks for the pics. Never had any desire to visit NE, that'd almost change my mind.

Bob