NATIONAL HERITAGE AREA P E N N S Y L V A N I A TITUSVILLE OIL CITY CRANBERRY FRANKLIN EMLENTON FOXBURG www.grabtrails.com www.oilregion.org 800.483.6264 CONTENTS Heritage Trails . 3 Titusville . 5 Oil City . 7 Cranberry . 10 Franklin . .11 Emlenton . 15 Foxburg . .16 Welcome! We are delighted to introduce you to the Oil the eastern portion of Crawford County as the Oil Region Region National Heritage Area! You’re invited to visit the National Heritage Area, with the Oil Region Alliance as its Attractions . 17 friendly people and fascinating locations in “The Valley federally designated manager. The same territory has been Recreation/Parks . .18 That Changed The World” situated in rural northwestern an official Pennsylvania Heritage Area since 1994. Pennsylvania. As its name suggests, the Oil Region National Heritage Arts & Culture . 19 The National Park Service defines a National Heritage Area Area’s special legacy is being the birthplace of the modern Culture Trails . 21 as a place designated by Congress where natural, cultural, petroleum industry. From Edwin Drake’s 1859 drilling of and historic resources combine to form a cohesive, the first commercial oil well along Oil Creek near Titusville, Taste Trails. 22 nationally distinctive landscape arising from patterns of through the early oil booms and the more recent natural gas 1 human activity shaped by geography. production booms, into today and beyond, this region’s Detailed City Maps . 23 2 These patterns make National Heritage Areas architecture, economics, festivals, place names, and Oil Region Map . .25 representative of the diverse national experience through tremendous collection of historic items have been shaped the physical features that remain, the traditions that have by this industry and the continuing population shifts along Events/Festivals . 27 the way. evolved in them, and today’s residents. Shopping Trails. 29 During the 30 years in which the National Heritage Area Area attractions, hospitality providers, businesses, and program has operated, Congress has to date passed residents are eager to share their stories and resources with Dream Trails . 31 legislation authorizing only 49 National Heritage Areas you as you explore the communities, river valleys, forested Two Mile Run County Park . 33 across the country. In 2004, President George W. Bush hillsides, museums, and special events in the Oil Region The Oil Region Alliance of Business, Industry & Tourism does signed H.R. 4818 designating all of Venango County and National Heritage Area. Come check these out soon! not warrant or guarantee the quality of the accommodations, destinations, events, restaurants, or other facilities listed in this Snow Trails . 34 Photographs provided by: guide. All locations and maps are approximates only. Grab Trails . .35 Robert Archer JazzLens Photography Dates and events are subject to change without notice. Kathy Bailey Komatsu Mining Corp. Admission may be charged, and rates are subject to change. Golf Trails . 37 Marilyn Black Karen Levy The Oil Region Alliance accepts no responsibility for any changes Darl Black Matric Limited that might occur. The Oil Region Alliance is the designated Erie to Pittsburgh Trail . 38 destination marketing organization for Venango County, Cheri Carbaugh John McCullough Pennsylvania. Its mission is to promote and develop the Oil Water Trails . 39 Kimberly Copley-Harris Penny Minnick Region as a leisure and business destination. Rochelle Cressman Mary Morgan Game Trails . .40 Jim DeLong Trenton Moulin Produced by: Oil Region Alliance of Business, Industry & Tourism Faith Trails . 41 Fine Line Design Heather Mull 217 Elm Street, Oil City, PA 16301 800.483.6264 Debra Frawley Adam Rupp www.oilregion.org www.grabtrails.com Realtors . 41 Michael Henderson Denise Shekel Published by: Seneca Printing Express Franklin, PA 16323 Brian Seeley www.senecaprintingexpress.com Oil Creek State Park . .42 Copyright ©2019 Brief excerpts from this Visitor Guide may Venango County . 44 Front Cover Back Cover be reprinted with attribution for educational or promotional Center Street Bridge Thunder Over Franklin purposes. Contact the Oil Region Alliance at 800.483.6264 for Sponsors . .45 Kim Copley-Harris Brian Seeley other requests/permission. You can travel Oil Creek valley by riding the Oil Creek & Titusville Railroad or bicycling or hiking the Oil Creek State Park Trail. McClintock Well #1 remains in periodic production; it’s just off Route 8 south of Rouseville and also serves as a trailhead on the McClintock Trail, one of many linked segments comprising the Erie to Pittsburgh Trail. Exploring Venango County is a free publication available at the Oil Region Alliance office which contains a complete list of all historical markers within the Oil Region, as well as GPS coordinates for the numerous historical sites. Self-guided walking tours with accompanying brochures and interpretive panels are available for Emlenton, Franklin, Oil City, and Titusville. In addition 39 blue/gold road-side historical markers point out specific These trails traverse through Venango and Crawford They traveled on the Venango River, renaming it French remnant structures today, others such as Oil City and significant oil pioneers, locations, Counties, as both have been key locations for major events Creek. Circular red/white/blue metallic signs labeled Emlenton flourished by hosting manufacturing and events, and companies. through the years. Today you can see reminders of why the Washington Trail stretch along roadways from Waterford, commercial services to support the burgeoning petroleum Oil Creek and Allegheny River valleys are referred to as ‘The PA through Meadville and Franklin and Butler County and and natural gas industries. Miniature dioramas are You can create your own driving tour Valley That Changed The World!’ to the Maryland/PA border to show the route he traveled. displayed inside the Petroleum Centre Train Station and as you check out markers ranging the Pithole Visitor’s Center. from Samuel C.T. Dodd to First Oil The Seneca nation within the 1859 was an absolutely pivotal year here and across the Pipeline to Captain Jacob Vandergrift Iroquois Confederacy used the country. On August 27, crude oil was produced from the The area’s Victorian architecture is amply demonstrated 3 and the Crawford Family. 4 Allegheny River as a transportation world’s first successful commercial well, drilled by Edwin in its buildings; a brochure about Victorian Architecture in corridor and the surrounding hills L. Drake at Watson’s Flats along Oil Creek just south of the Oil Region National Heritage Area is available locally. as hunting territory. Indian God Titusville. Within months, derricks marked the spots of Rock is a large upright boulder on numerous wells – some gushers, some pumpers, and some the eastern riverbank nine miles dry holes. downstream from Franklin; its A whole new industry developed to solve the challenging surface was chiseled with problems of extraction, transportation, storage, record- hieroglyphics prior to European keeping, royalty agreements, branding, and marketing oil for settlement. An interpretive panel ever-widening uses including lubrication, medication, along the adjacent Allegheny River illumination, and then fuel for vehicles. Oilfield equipment Trail illustrates the earlier (some now rusting and quiet, others pumped by more than markings which unfortunately have 50 independent producers) can still be seen since been covered by graffiti. In throughout the Oil Region. appreciation for assistance during the Revolutionary War, in 1791 the The second oldest Civil War monument in the USA stands tall in South Park beside the Pennsylvania Legislature gave Chief Cornplanter three land grants, including what is now Oil City’s Northside. A Venango County Courthouse in Franklin. life-size bronze statue of Cornplanter stands in Oil City’s Using a marble obelisk which the community Creekside Park. won in 1865 in a competition to raise funds for medical care of the war-wounded, In 1753 young British officerGeorge Washington was citizens erected it in 1866 on a base listing the assigned to deliver letters to the commandants of several county’s fallen soldiers. French forts demanding them to depart from what we now know as northwestern Pennsylvania. He and his contingent Oil boomtowns sprouted like mushrooms following traveled upstream along the Allegheny River by horseback, the war, as exploration wells uncovered more oil fields in pausing at what is now known as Riverfront Park in western Pennsylvania. While some communities like Franklin. The group then went on to Fort LeBoeuf in Erie Pithole, Shamburg, Red Hot, Petroleum Centre, Pearl, County, where they borrowed canoes for the return trip. and Funkville are just memories or crossroads with few Birthplace of the Oil Industry. Nicknamed the “ Queen City” for its elite cultural standing In October, athletes dash by that spot during the OC100 Trail Relay For Life to benefit the American Cancer Society, and Titusville is the happy home to a branch campus of the in the 1860s, Titusville had hotels, theaters and concert halls. Runs in 50k, 100k or 100 mile races. Part of the course is also Home for the Holidays, a winter festival which includes a University of Pittsburgh and proud of its school district Nestled in “The Valley That Changed the World” it is the used each August for the Drake Well Marathon, which is a drive through live nativity and a holiday light display at Burgess and hospital as well as the industries