Oil City, Pennsylvania
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Oil City is a city in Venango County, Pennsylvania which was, for many years, a center of the petroleum industry. After the first oil wells were drilled nearby in the 1850's, Oil City became the headquarters for the Pennzoil, Quaker State, and Wolf's Head motor oil companies.
Contents |
[edit] Geography
Oil City is located at the confluence of the Allegheny River and Oil Creek at (41.428280, -79.707327)GR1.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 12.3 km² (4.7 mi²). 11.7 km² (4.5 mi²) of it is land and 0.6 km² (0.2 mi²) of it (4.65%) is water.
Between the years 1990-2000 major oil companies left the region for Texas, rendering Oil City another casualty in the "Rust Belt" of western Pennsylvania.
Oil City contains a disproportionately large area of Brownfield land compared to other "Rust Belt" cities (due to relocation and closing of large oil refineries.) However, upstart green energy companies are planning on the use of such sites for production of renewable fuels such as biomass fuel.
[edit] Demographics
As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 11,504 people, 4,762 households, and 2,981 families residing in the city. The population density was 984.9/km² (2,548.4/mi²). There were 5,276 housing units at an average density of 451.7/km² (1,168.8/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 97.84% White, 0.89% African American, 0.26% Native American, 0.29% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.11% from other races, and 0.57% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.63% of the population.
There were 4,762 households out of which 30.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.8% were married couples living together, 12.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.4% were non-families. 32.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.37 and the average family size was 2.99.
In the city the population was spread out with 25.8% under the age of 18, 7.9% from 18 to 24, 27.2% from 25 to 44, 21.6% from 45 to 64, and 17.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 90.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.8 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $29,060, and the median income for a family was $36,149. Males had a median income of $30,072 versus $19,697 for females. The per capita income for the city was $14,696. About 16.2% of families and 19.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 28.3% of those under age 18 and 12.4% of those age 65 or over.
[edit] History
In the early 1600s, the Seneca nation first settled in the region; by, the late 1700s Chief Cornplanter was given three tracts of land as a gift from the State of Pennsylvania. In 1818, local prospectors purchased the land and built a blast furnace, which closed in the early 1950s. As population in the area began to decline, Colonel Edwin L. Drake drilled the first commercially successful oil well on August 28, 1859. A number of boomtowns came to life in the area, including Oil City, Titusville, Petroleum Center, Pithole, and Rynd Farm.
Barges were used to transport the oil down Oil Creek and into Oil City, where it was transported to steamboats or bulk barges to continue on to Pittsburgh and other locations. Oil City was founded in 1860, incorporated as a borough in 1863, and chartered as a city in 1874. The Borough of Oil City was incorporated as a city in 1871. The city was partially destroyed by flood in 1865 and by both flood and fire in 1866 and again in 1882; on this last occasion, several oil tanks that were struck by lightning gave way, and Oil Creek carried a mass of burning oil into the city, where some 60 lives were lost and property valued at more than $1 million was destroyed. Oil City grew into a thriving community through the later half of the 19th century and into the 20th Century.
By the second half of the 20th Century, the region began to face a number of serious setbacks and began to decline. By the 1990s, Pennzoil, Quaker State and Wolf's Head had all transferred their headquarters elsewhere. Little of the oil industry is left in the area. The region has recently attempted to bolster its economy through tourism, relying on both its oil history and its prime location on the Allegheny River at the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. However, major social and economic problems affect the area, including high teen pregnancy rates, drug problems, and significant unemployment.
[edit] External links
- The Oil City Chamber of Commerce's official website
- The City of Oil City's official website
- Venango Area Chamber of Commerce
- The Derrick - Local Newspaper
- Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Google Maps, or Yahoo! Maps, or Windows Live Local
- Satellite image from Google Maps, Windows Live Local, WikiMapia
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
