Pithole, Pennsylvania

Infobox_nrhp | name = Site of Pithole City
nrhp_type =


caption = Map of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania showing the location of Pithole City
locator_x = 31
locator_y = 40
lat_degrees = 41 | lat_minutes = 31 | lat_seconds = 11.92 | lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 79 | long_minutes = 35 | long_seconds = 16.77 | long_direction = W
location= 10 miles southeast of Titusville, PA in Venango County
nearest_city = Titusville, PA
area =
built = 1865
added = 1973
governing_body = Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
refnum=73001667 [cite web|url=http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/PA/Venango/state.html/|title=National Register of Historic Places|date=2007-06-23|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service]

Pithole or Pithole City, Pennsylvania is a ghost town located in Venango County, near Oil Creek State Park. The largest oil boomtown in America, [cite web | title =Oil Creek State Park | work =Pennsylvania DCNR| url =http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/StateParks/parks/oilcreek.aspx/] Pithole was settled in 1865 due to the numerous oil strikes in the area. In less than two years the population rose to over 15,000 and then fell to under 2,000. Today, Pithole is a tourist attraction, owned by the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.

History

In January 1865, oil was discovered at the Frazier Well (also called the US Well) along Pithole Creek at 250 barrels a day, six years after Edwin L. Drake struck oil at Drake Well in [Titusville, PA] . Two weeks later, oil was discovered at the nearby Twin Wells. By April, 3,000 Teamsters were employed at Pithole.

In May 1865, Colonel A.P. Duncan and George C. Prather purchased the land around Pithole from the widow of Thomas Holmden for $25,000. They divided the land into 500 lots, which they leased to businesses and individuals coming to work in the thriving oil industry. With the discovery of another oil well in June, the Homestead Well, population in Pithole quickly rose to around 2,000 people. Oil was discovered at Grant Well and Pool Well in August, and by September, Pithole was home to 15,000 people, had 57 hotels, The Pithole Daily Record newspaper, and the third busiest post office in Pennsylvania, handling more than 5,000 pieces of mail a day. By October, oil production around Pithole was estimated at 6,000 barrels a day. The borough was incorporated in December 1865. The Pithole Valley Railroad was completed, a reservoir and water pipe system was laid out, and two hotels Danforth House and the Bonta House opened. In early 1866, the town still welcomed prizefighter Ben Hogan to the Athenaeum theather (February), dedicated a Methodist church (May), and organized the men's social club, the Swordsman Club (June), but the town was already declining. From its peak population of 15,000 people in September 1865, population had already fallen to 4,000 by January 1866.

Oil was running out, the hastily constructed wooden buildings were falling victim to fire, and new wells were being discovered at nearby areas. Major fires in April and August 1866 burning several city blocks and 27 wells brought the population down even further to just 2,000 people by December 1866. After another fire destroyed 20 buildings in 1868, the newspaper was relocated to Petroleum Center, PA and by 1870, the population had fallen to 281. In 1877, Pithole's charter as a borough was officially annulled. The city was sold to Venango County commissioners for $4.37 in 1879.

In 1961, the site was given to the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission by owner James Stevenson. Today, only a few cellars and mowed paths mark the buildings and former streets of Pithole. A visitor's center, with a small museum, city directories, and a scale model of Pithole at its peak, is open from June through Labor Day. The site is maintained by the Drake Well Museum. [cite |author=Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission |title=Pithole: Oil's Vanished Boomtown 1865 - 1867 | publisher=Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission | date=2007]

Notable Persons

*President Abraham Lincoln's, assassin, John Wilkes Booth, had a share in an oil well on Pithole Creek. [cite web | title =History of the Oil Region | url =http://www.oilheritage.com/history/history.htm]
*Lucille Ball's grandfather Jasper Clinton Ball was born in Pithole. [cite web | title =David Robinson Worldconnect (genealogy) file | url =http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=REG&db=haruspex&id=I045759]

References

External links

* [http://www.drakewell.org/ Official site of Pithole City and the Drake Well Museum]
* [http://www.ghosttowns.com/states/pa/pitholecity.html Pithole at Ghosttowns.com]
* [http://www.usachoice.net/drakewell/Pithole.htm Pithole at USAChoice.net]
* [http://www.logwell.com/tales/pithole.html Tales of Destruction...Pithole, Oilfield Ghost Town]