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| THE NORTHERN PENNSYLVANIA VICTORIAN REGION |
| Locations
Emlenton
Styles Adam
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FRANKLIN (Page 2 of 4) In the early 1860's oil was shipped down the river from Oil Creek to Pittsburgh. The Atlantic and Great Western Railroad arrived in Franklin in 1863. Some of the crude oil coming down the river from Oil Creek was then transferred to the railroad and shipped either north and east to New York City or west to Cleveland. A second rail line, the Jamestown and Franklin, entered the Oil Region at Franklin in 1867. The competition between these two railroads for the crude oil traffic to Cleveland almost immediately led to favorable rates and rebates for the owners of the Cleveland refineries at the expense of refiners in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, New York and the Oil Region, itself. One Cleveland owner, John D. Rockefeller, exploited this advantage to its fullest. Franklin prospered as a rail terminal. Many
of its citizens became particularly successful oil producers. In
the late nineteenth century, Franklin became a center for refining crude
with its largest facilities being owned by Rockefeller’s Standard Oil.
Most of Franklin’s fine Victorian homes represent the prosperity of these
times.
The Galena-Signal Oil Company Building on Liberty
Street is also representative of this success. Built in 1902, the Galena-Signal
Oil Company Building is an elegant example of Italian Renaissance architecture.
That building provides an interesting contrast to the more flamboyant and
picturesque Italianate County Courthouse situated in the nearby commons
area, a structure completed in 1869.
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