Titusville, PA

Hometown of the Oil Age

“The valley that changed the world” isn’t a slogan designed to bring tourists to Titusville, Pa. (pop. 6,146). It simply expresses the community’s pride in being the first oil boomtown in the world.

“Most of us have a little oil in our veins, and we thrive on it,” says C.J. Tisi, executive director of the Titusville Chamber of Commerce. “You might say we’re born to it. Our roots go very deep, and we treasure the past and the historic impact our community had on our nation and the world.”

It all goes back to a day in 1859. Edwin “Colonel” Drake of the Connecticut-based Seneca Oil Co. had been scouting seeps along Titusville’s petroleum-rich Oil Creek. A dwindling supply of whale oil—then the main source for lighting and machine lubricants—fueled an urgent demand for an alternative resource.

But there was no efficient way to collect petroleum. “Oil was gathered by skimming it from the top of seeps,” says William Brice, professor of geology at the University of Pittsburgh. “A wool cloth was used to absorb the oil, which was then squeezed out into a container. Skimming couldn’t produce more than a few barrels a day.”

After observing salt well drillers, however, Drake thought, “Why not drill for oil?” He devised a cumbersome rig with a cast iron drive pipe powered by a six-horsepower steam engine—dubbed “Drake’s Folly” by onlookers—and began boring into bedrock. After several setbacks, on Aug. 27, 1859, the Colonel struck “black gold” at 69 feet, filling 25 barrels in a single day. The world’s first commercial oil well was about to usher in the modern industrial age.

The “liquid gold rush,” that followed swelled Titusville’s sleepy hamlet of 250 to a boomtown of 10,000, attracting a who’s who of the wealthy and prominent—from John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie to Mark Twain. Prospectors gripped with the fever flocked to Oil Creek Valley, which by 1865 produced up to 7,000 barrels a day, accounting at the time for 90 percent of the world’s production.

Although the boom lasted little more than a decade, the Appalachian town keeps that legacy alive. The 1901 Drake Memorial pavilion stands at the town’s entrance. Meticulously preserved Victorian mansions built by oil barons bear testament to Titusville’s 19th-century millionaires—more per capita than anywhere on earth. The oil derrick logo on police cars and street signs is the second most recognized symbol in Pennsylvania, after the Liberty Bell.

The jewel in the crown is the Drake Well Museum and Park. The 240-acre site features Drake’s well, a replica of his derrick and engine house, plus vintage oil vehicles and fully operating drilling and pumping machinery. The park is the hub of several celebrations, including Boom Town Days, Oil Festival Week, and Drake Day.

Museum Director Barbara Zolli says Titusville has a deep awareness of its roots, and its heritage lecture series attracts many residents interested in researching their genealogy through the museum’s extensive petroleum library. “Since so many families have remained in the valley for generations, oil history becomes significant on a personal level,” Zolli says.

Just ask Don Neiman, guide on the popular Oil Creek and Titusville Railroad, a 13-mile excursion along the line that carried oil to the world. “I point out oil farms, as they were called,” Neiman says, “where the first wells, pipelines, and oil tanks were located, as well as the many opera houses, saloons, and dance halls that sprang up.” Riders especially get a kick out of mailing a letter from the world’s only operating railway postal car.

“We’re tucked in one of the most beautiful valleys in creation,” Tisi says, “a valley that produced great legends and a strong belief in the strength, determination, and generosity of spirit in our people. Our past is a touchstone to our present and future. It gives us a sense of place and belonging. We remember where we came from and draw strength from it.”

“It’s our story,” Zolli adds, “and we take pride in sharing it.”

Deborah Lynn Black writes from her home in Akron, N.Y.

Upload Your Own Stories, Photos and Videos

Every week, American Profile magazine brings you stories that celebrate the people and places that make America great. Now we want to hear your stories and see your photos, videos and even audio.

 Start Uploading Now!

 

Discuss this Article