Images of Oil City 

This site is dedicated to documenting the visual history of Oil City, Pa. Although Oil City is a very small town tucked up into the hills of N.W. Pennsylvania, it has a rich and fascinating history. During the oil boom of the 1860's, this town was the hub of the oil industry. For a while, Oil City figured large on the world stage. For many of us from there, it still figures large in our hearts.

At this time, all of the images are from postcards. Eventually I hope to add pictures from other sources as well. Please feel free to send an email if you have a correction, embellishment, or any other comment on anything in here. Especially, please let me know if anything doesn't work correctly. The best place to send comments regarding this site is: ocstuff@terrycallahan.com

What's New:				Post Cards Postcards are divided into general eras, based upon their style.  This way they can be generally dated even if there is no postmark.  Click on the links below to see the postcards in this collection. If you are interested in learning more about postcards in general, click here.
The new pictures below have not yet been moved to their final home on this site.  As always, you may click on any of them to see a larger version.
	The Calypso ride at Conneaut Lake Park.			Polychrome Era	Produced from 1945 to present
				Linen Era	Produced from 1930 through 1955
				White Border Era	Produced from 1915 through 1930
				Divided Back Era	Produced from 1907 through 1914
				Postcard Era	Produced from 1901 through 1907
				Real Photos	Produced from early1900's to the present
Last Updated 2/21/09

Other Related Material:

Check out the Petroleum History Website

Take a ride on the Oil Creek and Titusville Railroad

Please consider checking out the movie "Reversal", written by and starring Oil City boy Jimi Petulla.  It is about his experiences growing up as a wrestling coach's son in Oil City.  It was originally planned to film this in the Oil City area, unfortunately production considerations made this not feasible.  However it was done in a similar small town in the Pittsburgh area, and I am sure you will recognize the "look and feel" of the area.