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__Driving
Tours:
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Oil
Country Tour
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Oil
Country Tour Description |
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| Along
Oil Creek, in Venango County, just south of Titusville, Colonel
Edwin Drake struck oil at a depth of 69.5 feet in August 1859,
marking the birth of the commercial oil industry. Nearby, Petroleum
Center was an area of tremendous oil activity in the 1860s.
By 1875, the oil wells began to dry up and once booming towns
along Oil Creek began to disappear. The land near Drake's Well,
abused during the oil era, since returned to its natural beauty.
A few oil wells are still active in Oil Creek State Park, but
the days of oil discovery are preserved in history. Explore
the Petroleum Center and see what the oil boom days were like.
Take a train, ride a bike, or walk along the beautiful trails
in the Oil Creek area. Finally, visit Drake's Well and relive
history.
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Oil
Country Tour Map |
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| See
the tour route... |
- Location
of each site
- Major
roads
- Topographic
relief
- Streams
and lakes
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View
the Map! (gif)
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Oil
Country Tour Locations |
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Petroleum
Center (Visitor Center/Train Station)
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Description:
Displays and programs here revolve around the early oil boom
time era. From spring to autumn, an environmental education
specialist presents historical and environmental programs.
Be sure to see the other displays and the interactive computer
information lab. Petroleum Center also serves as a train station
where the train still runs through Oil Creek Valley and stops
here just as it would have 100 years ago.
Environmental
Issue: The world's first commercial oil well was drilled
in Oil Creek Valley. The Petroleum Visitor's Center tells
the story of the early industry. Within six miles of Oil Creek
Valley is Pithole, America's largest oil boomtown. Oil was
discovered at the Thomas Holmden Farm in January 1865, attracting
many people to the area. By September 1865, a town had grown
nearly overnight to a population of 15,000. The oil soon ran
out and many people left the town. By December 1866, there
were fewer than 2,000. Little remains of the town today except
some cellar holes in a hillside meadow and evidence of the
streets that once ran through town.
| Contact
Information |
| Phone:
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(814)
676-5915 |
| Address: |
R.R.
#1 Box 207
Oil Creek State Park
Oil City, PA |
| Hours: |
open
June 15 through Memorial day weekend, 11:00am-5:00pm |
| Fee: |
none |
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| Links: |
History
of the oil industry
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Oil
Creek and Titusville Railroad
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Description:
Catch the train either in Titusville or at Petroleum Center
to enjoy a scenic trip along Oil Creek. You can even take
your bike along with you on the train, ride one way on the
train and return by bicycle. The open-air car offers a perfect
view of the scenery. You can also send a postcard from the
only working Railway Post Office in the U.S. Travellers often
see wildlife from the train, from groundhogs and wild turkeys,
to deer and eagles. The train is accessible to people with
disabilities. It will pick up bicyclists at the Petroleum
Center, Rynd Farm Station, or the Drake Well Station.
Environmental
Issue: [Will discuss trains as mass transit.]
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Drake
Well Museum
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Description:
At the Drake Well Museum, you can observe the site where
Edwin L. Drake, in 1859, started the modern commercial oil
industry. Visitors can explore the replica of Drake's engine
house and oil derrick, which provide a glimpse of how the
oil industry began, and see reproductions of Drake's steam
engine and wood-fired boiler. The Museum tells the story
of the beginning of the modern oil industry through museum,
exhibits, operating oil field machinery, and historic buildings
in a park setting. There are also many special events and
educational programs.
Environmental
Issue: Fossil fuels, such as oil, coal, and natural
gas, account for 80 percent of energy use in industrialized
countries and provide about 95 percent of all commercial
energy in the world. Supplies of fossil fuels are diminishing,
and their use affects the environment. As we burn fossil
fuels, by driving cars and generating electricity, we release
carbon dioxide and other heat-absorbing gases that contribute
to global climate change, smog, and acid rain. Cleaner renewable
energy resources such as solar photovoltaic, wind, and biomass
can be used to replace environmentally damaging energy sources.
| Contact
Information |
| Phone:
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(814)
827-2797 |
| Address: |
205
Museum Lane
Titusville, PA |
| Hours: |
May
through October: Monday to Saturday 9:00 am to 5:00
pm, Sunday 10:00 am to 5:00 pm;
November through April: Tuesday to Saturday 9:00 am
to 5:00 pm, Sunday noon to 5:00 pm;
open Memorial Day, Independence Day, and Labor Day |
| Fee: |
yes |
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| Links: |
Drake
Well
Fossil
Fuel Conservation |
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Oil
Creek State Park Bicycle Trail
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Description:
This 9.7-mile paved bike trail, open to two-way bicycle traffic,
runs through the scenic Oil Creek Gorge. There are trailheads
at both Petroleum Center and the Drake Well Museum. Bicycles
can be rented at the Old Egbert Oil Office at the Petroleum
Center and there are picnic tables, benches, rain shelters,
and restrooms at key points along the trail. Historical markers
detail specific events of the 1860s oil boom era.
Environmental
Issue: As you ride or walk along the trail, you will see
picturesque view of Oil Creek, which the trail follows. Today,
the creek is clear; long ago, naturally-occurring oil seeps
clouded the water. Seeps were places near the creek where
oil was collected. Native Americans were first to gather the
oil, sometimes floating on top of the water. One trader, Tobias
Hirte, wrote in 1792, that he saw Native Americans using feathers
to dip into a seep to bring up oil. Other early gatherers
shoveled oily gravel into canoes and then poured in water
so that they could skim off the oil. Water was the key so
that floating oil could be skimmed off and gathered. In the
1800s, it was also common for wool blankets to be used to
catch floating oil. Today, there is little evidence of the
massive amounts of oil that flowed through the area, although
an occasional bursting rainbow in Oil Creek may be a drop
escaping from an old well or a buried pipe.
Just as oil has
almost disappeared from the Oil Creek region, it is also diminishing
every day from reserves around the world. On average, each
person in the United States uses more than 60 barrels of oil
per year! Americans consume as much energy in one day as most
people will use in a year in less developed countries. This
energy consumption clearly links to the great comfort we enjoy
in this country as well as posing huge environmental challenges.
| Contact
Information |
| Phone:
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(814)
676-5915 (Oil Creek State Park) |
| Address: |
Oil
Creek State Park
Oil City, PA |
| Hours: |
Old
Egbert Oil Office is open from Memorial Day to Labor
Day and weekends during spring and fall to rent bicycles.
Hours may vary. |
| Fee: |
none;
fee to rent bicycles |
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| Links: |
Reduce
your energy consumption |
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Additional
Information
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| None available
at this time. |
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