McClintock Trail - Local History

The chief attraction of this trail arises from two historical sites, one near each end of the Waitz Rd section of the trail. At the north end, turning south on PA8, crossing the PA8 bridge, and turning left on Old Bankson Rd leads quickly to the Rynd Farm station of the Oil Creek and Titusville Scenic RR and “Coal Oil Johnny” House, a timber frame house built around 1850 and moved less than a mile to its current location in 2002.

McClintock #1, the world’s oldest continuously-producing oil well

At the south end of the Waitz Rd section is the McClintock #1 historic site. Here is the world’s oldest continuously-producing oil well. It was drilled with muscle power in 1861 and has produced continuously since then. This is a shallow, stripper well; this sort of well is often independently owned and produces only a few barrels of oil a day, but together such wells generate 30% of American oil. The well (now owned by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania) yields only about 50 barrels a year, but it does still produce. If you are really fortunate, it may be running, and you can appreciate the light sweet odor of the oil. The site has parking, benches, and interpretive signs.

This trail is in the Oil Region National Heritage Area (oilheritage.org), which includes all of Venango County, plus the towns of Titusville, Hydetown, and Oil Creek Township in Crawford County. It tells the story of Colonel Edwin Drake drilling the world’s first successful oil well in 1859, which changed the course of industry, society, and politics in the modern world. The Oil Region contains many remnants of the oil industry, as well as historic valley settlements shaped by native and immigrant populations.