Nearly 150 years ago in northwestern Pennsylvania Colonel Edwin Drake drilled the first successful oil well transforming the world almost over night bringing changes to all aspects of life heat, light, industry, transportation and medicine. Pennsylvania crude became known the world over, but just as quickly as the region grew it declined as larger more productive oil fields were discovered in Texas & Oklahoma. The oil industry has come a long way since the days of Edwin Drake and oil speculators of the 1860's.
As the towns of Titusville, Oil City, Franklin prepare to celebrate the 150 birthday of the modern oil industry our country searches for new sources of power in wind & solar energy.
As a child growing up in this region I was fascinated by its rich history. Perhaps most intriging was the ghost town of Pithole that was built and rebuilt several times after fires before finally being abandoned. My family and I spent many hours walking empty streets and reading the placques that told the story of the oil men & the challenges they faced getting the oil from the ground to market with little reliable transportation. The oil barrels were placed on barges and floated down Oil Creek & the Allegheny River until the railroad was built.
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(If I used a magnifying glass, I could probably located the house I grew up in Oil City, PA)
A documentary film, "The Valley That Changed the World" produced by WQED in Pittsburgh will premiere Saturday, March 14th at 7:30 p.m. at the Barrow Civic Theatre, 1223 Liberty Street, Franklin, PA 1.800.483.6264 x 110
WQED will air the film on tv April 16, 2009 at 8:00 p.m.
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