Mouse over for marker text
Name:
Pithole
Region:
Lake Erie Region
County:
Venango
Marker Location:
SR 1006 on the hill, Pleasantville
Dedication Date:
December 1973
Behind the Marker
Pithole, a town cut from the Holmden family farm, boomed in August 1865 after a local well produced 300 barrels per day. Pithole opened up a new trend in the oil regions: land developers soon realized the financial potential in developing a town to house the workers.
Pithole reached peak production in October 1865, reportedly producing between 6,000 and 8,000 barrels. In 1865, the entire Pennsylvania oil region estimated production at 9,000 barrels, which demonstrates the importance of Pithole's production. Over half of Pithole's supply came from two wells. The town earned a national reputation as the greatest of all boomtowns and symbol of the progress embodied by the developing oil industry. Within six months of the discovery of oil here a town had taken form - the largest boomtown in the region - with a population of 10,000. This population peaked at 15,000. Its livelihood was short-lived however; by 1870 it was nearly deserted.
A photograph of a dirt road flanked by two and three-story wooden houses and...
Pithole reached peak production in October 1865, reportedly producing between 6,000 and 8,000 barrels. In 1865, the entire Pennsylvania oil region estimated production at 9,000 barrels, which demonstrates the importance of Pithole's production. Over half of Pithole's supply came from two wells. The town earned a national reputation as the greatest of all boomtowns and symbol of the progress embodied by the developing oil industry. Within six months of the discovery of oil here a town had taken form - the largest boomtown in the region - with a population of 10,000. This population peaked at 15,000. Its livelihood was short-lived however; by 1870 it was nearly deserted.
