Oil Region Alliance: Stewards of Region’s Oil History

| September 25, 2017

OIL CITY, Pa. (EYT) – For over 150 years, oil has always been an important part of the area; however, did you know that the history of oil in the region is celebrated by a special designation by the federal government?

(Photo: Drakes Well Museum and Park is one of the main attractions in the Oil Region National Hertitage Area.)

The National Park Service has designated Venango County and a small part of Crawford County as the Oil Region National Heritage Area, which according to the NPS website “tells of the world’s first successful commercial oil well and a legacy of petroleum that continues to shape industry, society, and politics. The Oil Region includes oil artifacts, scenic communities, farmlands and woodlands, and industrial landscapes and offers visitors heritage attractions and four seasons of outdoor recreation.”

As a heritage area as opposed to a national park, the Park Service doesn’t run it directly, but instead, the area is run by the nonprofit Oil Region Alliance (ORA).

“Congress passed the official legislation in 2004,” Marilyn Black, Vice President for Heritage Development for the ORA, explained.

“Prior to the federal government giving the area that designation, it was the Pennsylvania Oil Heritage Region for 10 years prior to that as designated by Governor Robert P. Casey in 1994.”

According to John Phillips, President and Chief Executive Officer of the ORA, the designation is a “distinct geographic area” that crosses county lines and includes Venango County and the eastern tip of Crawford County including Titusville, Oil Creek Township, and Hydetown Borough.

“We are one of 49 very special places and regions throughout the country that focus on distinctive history and culture that is still visible and can be understood in the original sites,” Black said. “That means it is an area that still has significant visual reminders.”

“Of the 49, we are the only one which concentrates on petroleum history.”

As a designation of a National Heritage Area by the federal government, ORA receives funding through the National Park Service. It leverages this with its Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources funding as a state heritage area to do most of the technical assistance for various historic preservation projects and a multitude of education and recreational endeavors in the area, according to Black.

“It’s sort of like having the gold seal,” Black said. “Among all the possibilities, this is where you have the most original setting. We have so many of the original innovations, the business practices, the architecture that resulted not only in businesses and homes but in churches and the other institutions in the community. In addition to that, so many of the lessons that were learned here about the industry, including environmental lessons, are things we need to continue to remember today.”

“So, this designation is saying that this area is extremely significant. We are included on the NPS websites, and we are increasingly participating in a number of their other educational services because there is not a single national park anywhere in Northwestern Pennsylvania.”

As Phillips put it, the Oil Region National Heritage Area, and, in extension, the ORA, is the representative of the National Park Service in Northwestern Pennsylvania.

“The federal designation through the national park service is arguably this region’s most valuable asset,” Dan Twombly, Executive Vice-President of the ORA, said.

“It provides a branding thing, a marketing kind of thing. You will notice it all throughout the region. You’ve seen it yourself ‘Oil Region’ something or other. ‘Oil Region’ this or ‘Oil Region’ that. It provides a focus branding point for us.”

“Also, even though it’s not a National Park, it gives you the same feeling and the same marketing power that a national park might have. Maybe not quite, but very, very similar.”

Drake Well Museum and Park in Cherrytree Township is obviously one of the more important locations within the Oil Region National Heritage Area.

Drilled in 1859 by Edwin Drake, Drake Well was the first commercial oil well in the United States.

While Drake Well is an important piece of the Oil Region National Heritage Area, it was far from the only one.

“Oil Creek State Park, which is not admission based, is another one,” Black said. “You also have the Oil Creek and Titusville Railroad, the Venango Museum of Art, Science and History in Oil City, the DeBence Antique Music World in Franklin, the Pumping Jack Museum in Emlenton, and the Barrow-Civic Theater in Franklin, which is a big draw, among others.”

Phillips also mention Two Mile Run County Park and the region’s extensive system of multi-purpose land and water trails as additional major attractions.

“There are a lot of things to do and see,” Phillips said.

While the designation of a National Heritage Area is permanent, unless Congress would choose to end the designation or the program, the current funding for the Oil Region National Heritage Area is only authorized through 2020.

“The National Park Service recently released an evaluation of the Heritage Area,” Black said. “It was conducted by an independent third party and will be submitted by the park service to Congress. The evaluation was done in 2015-16. The evaluation found that the ORA has the governance in place and is staffed appropriately to operates a sustainable national heritage area organization, and that it is fulfilling its legislative mandate.”

According to the evaluation’s cover letter, the study determined that Heritage Area has addressed its legislated purposes and management plan goals with the support of the federal resources provided and that both the NPS funds and the National Heritage Area designation are of value to the Oil Region National Heritage Area.

According to the evaluation, the Oil Region National Heritage Area successfully met the 50 percent federal funding matching requirements from 2005 to 2015 with a total of $6.5 million in funds from state, local, and private sources to the $2.8 million from the NPS under Heritage Partnership Program. Other funds totaled over $2.5 million from the Department of Labor, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Transportation, the Small Business Administration and the Department of Health and Human Services. The ORA spent a total of $19.5 million on programmatic activities and $4.2 million on operational expenses from 2005-2015.

The evaluation went on to say that the ORA invested $6.8 million in heritage development activities reusing and redeveloping the Heritage Area’s historic sites such as the Tarbell House, preservation of historic petroleum/natural gas artifacts, education development and trail development.

In addition, the ORA invested $6.7 million in economic development for projects related to the Erie to Pittsburgh Trail within the Heritage Area, developing industrial parks, reusing brownfield sites and working with the Oil City Main Street Program.

Ten percent of the ORA investment accounted for funding such as visitors guides, fishing reports, biking maps and hiking-biking-water trails maps, according to the evaluation, while 20 percent of the spending accounted spending related to business functions of the ORA.

According to the evaluation, over 150,000 people utilized the trails in the area in 2013, according to economic impact studies.

The Oil Region National Heritage Area doesn’t always go at it alone. It sometimes partners with the River of Steel National Heritage Area located in Pittsburgh as it is doing now with Washington’s Trail of 1753.

“We are really working to promote that,” Phillips said. “There is a study being done now through the National Park Service to consider classifying this self-guided driving route through Western Pennsylvania as a National Historic Trail. We are hoping for good things in the future. I love it because it does connect us literally with Rivers of Steel.”

Another project the two National Heritage Areas are partnering on, according to Black, is a book called The Petroleum Pioneers of Pittsburgh.

“It is in the final design stage now, and we hope to have it out by the Christmas shopping season,” Black said.

For more information about the Oil Region National Heritage Area, visit the National Park’s website at www.nps.gov or the ORA website at www.oilregion.org.


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