Free Open Houses Scheduled at Coal Oil Johnny House in Oil Creek State Park

| June 3, 2018

OIL CITY, Pa. – The historic McClintock-Steele-Waitz House, also known as the Coal Oil Johnny House, located at 167 Old Bankson Road inside Oil Creek State Park at Rynd Farm, will be open for free guided tours twice this summer.

The first Open House is scheduled for Sunday, June 24 from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

The Oil Creek & Titusville Railroad will be operating steam locomotives this day, and the Coal Oil Johnny House is great vantage point to view the train coming into the Rynd Farm Station.

The second Open House is set for Wednesday, July 25 from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Through a special lease agreement with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the nonprofit Oil Region Alliance of Business, Industry, and Tourism owns this peg-n-post frame house, even though it sits on land owned and managed by the Bureau of State Parks within the Pa. Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Originally constructed on the west bank of Oil Creek downstream from its current location, this historic home was disassembled, transported, and reassembled in 2001 by the Oil Region Alliance by contractor, Gustafson General Contracting.

This historic property is named for three families who resided therein. Culbertson and Sarah McClintock built the home circa 1850, for them and their two adopted children, Permelia and John Washington Steele. In 1864, then 21-year-old John inherited the farm, home, and substantial oil royalties. It was during Steele’s notorious two-year-spending spree in Philadelphia and New York where journalists coined the nickname “Coal Oil Johnny” for him. After heavy spending, he went bankrupt and lost the property. The house changed hands frequently in the 1870s, until being purchased by the Waitz Family. In 1999, the Oil Region Alliance purchased the house from members of the Waitz family.

During the Open House, local re-enactors will portray members of the McClintock and Steele families. Guided tours of the house and light refreshments will be provided during the Open Houses; book sales will also be available on site. For more information or to schedule a private tour of the Coal Oil Johnny House, please contact Jennifer Burden, Historian-Educator, Oil Region Alliance, 814-677-3152, Ext. 116 or jburden@oilregion.org.


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