The Victorian homes and commercial buildings of Venango County and eastern Crawford County were built on the foundation of wealth created by the oil farms situated along Oil Creek in the 1860’s.  A full appreciation of the surviving Victorian structures we see today cannot be realized without a trip along the Creek to see first hand where the oil industry was created.  Beginning at the Drake Well Museum, this motor tour will travel south to the old Hamilton McClintock and Buchanan Farms around Rouseville and then proceed north through Oil Creek State Park.  The tour will pass through and by a number of historical oil farms on Oil Creek.  After a stop at Petroleum Centre, the tour will proceed up Benninghoff Run to the Cherrytree Cemetery and then return to Drake Well. 

This will be held in the Drake Well Museum Building at Drake Well Park in Titusville.  There will be refreshments, a time for mingling, and hearing “traditional American roots music” by northwest Pennsylvania and western New York’s own “Good for Nuthin String Band.”  The players include Susan Beates on the mandolin, fiddle and cello; Richard Brown on the 5-string banjo, guitar, and ukulele; Roger DeWinkle on the upright bass; Michael Vickey on the hammered dulcimer, mountain dulcimer, and 5-string banjo; and Mark Zimmer on guitar and Cajun accordion.

First Assembly of God  (Rev. Terry Bidwell and a member of the Titusville Historical Society, presenters)
Originally this was the Swedish Congregational Church built in 1905.  This unique octagonal-shaped brick church building (which was not rare in the 19th century) was so constructed to fit the narrow lot.  An Evangelical United Brethren congregation purchased it from the Swedish in 1949; in 1967 the First Assembly of God acquired it.

St. Stephen’s Roman Catholic Church & Cemetery  (Ellen Warner, presenter)
This church located in Oil Creek Township is the oldest church still standing in the Erie Diocese.  It was constructed in 1825 by Patrick Sloan and other Irish immigrant families.  Descendants of Patrick Sloan have maintained and restored the church which is still used for an annual Mass. 

Mr. Pettiford will provide some recent examples of adaptive reuse projects funded with both Historic Rehabilitation and New Markets Tax Credit incentives, which are now part of the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s national portfolio. 
Mr. Bowen will take a humorous but factual spin to the tradition in the Oil Region of creative adaptive reuse such as skating rinks that became  opera houses and opera houses that became skating rinks. 

This session will explore the New Markets Tax Credits that the National Trust recently added to its portfolio of economic development tools with $127 million in Federal funds.  Discover how your community can take advantage of this new revitalization tool.  Mr. Pettiford, Jr., Sr. Program Associate for the National Trust for Historic Preservation, will share examples from his six demonstration sites across the country and explain how this commodity can spark downtown redevelopment in a Victorian neighborhood. 

The Noble and Delamater Well, the most profitable oil well on Oil Creek, began to flow in 1863 on the Farel Farm.  The four surviving Farel siblings enjoyed the royalty payments.  They resided in Titusville where Sadie met and married a wealthy farm and oil field equipment manufacturer, William Sterrett, who built Sadie a fine Second Empire mansion.  The Farel–Sterrett wedding was the highlight of the 1871 social season.  The marriage, subsequent bliss and eventual failure tell a poignant tale of the time.

St. James Episcopal Church 
(Barbara Ives, presenter)
This Gothic stone structure is Titusville’s oldest church, constructed in 1863, and is almost exactly like England’s 14th and 15th century country churches.  Remodeling of the edifice took place in the 1880’s and 1890’s.  The Parish House was built in 1864 for use as a Chapel/Sunday School and Private Academy; additions were made in 1920 and 1960.  It was razed and replaced in 1971 with the present building. 

First Presbyterian Church 
(Rev. Barry Cressman, presenter)
This Presbyterian church building is their fifth one constructed in 1888 and made of Medina stone in the Richardson Romanesque style.    This style is masonry, usually with some rough-faced, square stonework and wide, rounded arches.  Henry Hobson Richardson’s Trinity Church in Boston was the first notable Romanesque structure in America.   The style was popular for large public buildings; they were expensive to build due to the masonry construction.

Joseph B. Pettiford, Jr., Senior Program Associate with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, will discuss what role New Markets Tax Credits and Historic Tax Credits can play in the Downtown Revitalization Movement.  He will provide insights into the emerging national trend to revitalize downtowns and main street communities and will give  attendees food for thought when developing a road map for revitalization.   

The surviving small village and country churches of Northern Pennsylvania tell us in dramatic fashion who settled the area in the 19th century and how those people changed with the industrialization of the region after the discovery of oil.  The church buildings vary from ones of simple beauty to elegant memories of the English country church.  The ecclesiastical design of these buildings reflects the particular religious beliefs of those communities who built them.  The survival of these wonderful buildings is in question.  Though they were built by particular religious denominations, they have become a comforting, lingering sign of faith and hope for all.

McKinney Hall (a Historical Society member, presenter)   This structure was built by John C. Bryan in 1870.  It is a Second Empire-Italian Villa mansion.  In 1926 the McKinney family bought the house and spent nearly  a million dollars on remodeling and landscaping.  Mr. McKinney traveled to Europe to purchase the marble for  the hand-carved fireplaces. Fine Italian artwork adorning the walnut ceiling richly enhances the main foyer.  The current conference room was the formal dining room, a masterpiece of Venetian architecture, which has been preserved in its entirety.  McKinney’s heirs gave the house and adjacent carriage house/garage to the University of Pittsburgh in 1963.  It is currently used as an administration building and for classrooms.

Tisi House (C. J. Tisi and a Historical Society member, presenters)    This dwelling was constructed in 1869 by George Custer, an oil dealer and real estate developer.  It is an Italianate brick home featuring a gable front entrance, pronounced overhanging eaves, hoods over all the windows, and full height windows on the first floor that lead to the front porch.  This style is highly decorative and is influenced by both the Italian Renaissance and Italian country villa models.  Except for one room, it is totally restored  and features the original porches, the original  iron fence surrounding the property, three original fireplaces made of imported Italian tile, seven chandeliers one of which is a huge 1839 chandelier from the Watson estate which was later moved to the Colonel Drake Hotel before being installed in the Tisi House.

Peaslee House   (Mrs. Peaslee and a Historical Society member, presenters)  Originally the Sterrett house, this structure was built in 1871 by William Sterrett, a farm implement and oil field machinery manufacturer.  His marriage to Sadie Farel was a major social event in 1871.  This impressive brick home is of the Second Empire architecture.  A Mansard roof, heavily ornamented dormer windows, heavily bracketed cornice, and two-story bay windows are identifying features of this style of architecture.  

The 1893 Chicago World’s Fair was attended by hundreds of thousands of people.  The Fair’s architecture was decidedly classical with baroque embellishments of monumental statuary.  Many public buildings built in the latter 1890’s were designed after the Beaux-Arts style favored by the Fair.  Various states built structures for the Fair in a new, Neoclassical style featuring two-story colonnaded entrances, balustrades, side porches and platform piazzas.  Pictures of these state houses were widely printed and distributed, creating almost overnight a new residential architectural style from which late 19th century Victorians could choose.  Examples of the 1893 Fair’s architectural influence is seen throughout northern PA.

B’Nai Zion Reform Jewish Synagogue  (Kathy & Mike Irwin and a Historical Society member, presenters)
This Romanesque-style edifice was built in 1872 by the Reform Jewish Society of Titusville in the same architectural style as its contemporary synagogues in Philadelphia and New York City.  The exterior was originally two shades of blue.  It was one of the first churches in Titusville to be heated and lit by  natural gas.  The congregation disbanded in 1910 and the building was sold to the Christian and Missionary Alliance Church in 1928.  Extensive remodeling was done in the 1940’s and the Church of God purchased it in 1951.  Bluegill Graphics, Inc. has recently purchased it and is in the midst of renovations.

Titusville Towne Square  (Mike Allyn, presenter)
Over the years, occupants have been a photography studio, bank, telegraph office, dry goods stores, and clothing store.  This property built in 1870 and now owned by the Titusville Redevelopment Authority for rehabilitation purposes consists of three adjoining commercial storefronts and approximately 24,000 square feet of upper story space in these and neighboring buildings.  New roofs have been installed, a four-story elevator added, and a lobby constructed, as was a corridor on the second floor connecting the elevator to existing offices.  Other renovations are in the planning stages.  Four Sons Brewery now occupies the ground floor.