Venango County, Pennsylvania

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Not to be confused with Venango, Pennsylvania.
Venango County, Pennsylvania
Venango County Courthouse.jpg
Venango County Courthouse
Seal of Venango County, Pennsylvania
Seal
Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Venango County
Location in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania
Map of the United States highlighting Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania's location in the U.S.
Founded September 1, 1805
Seat Franklin
Largest city Oil City
Area
 • Total 683 sq mi (1,769 km2)
 • Land 674 sq mi (1,746 km2)
 • Water 8.6 sq mi (22 km2), 1.3%
Population (est.)
 • (2014) 53,529
 • Density 80/sq mi (31/km²)
Congressional district 5th
Time zone Eastern: UTC-5/-4
Website www.co.venango.pa.us

Venango County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 census, the population was 54,984.[1] Its county seat is Franklin.[2] The county was created in 1800 and later organized in 1805.[3]

Venango County comprises the Oil City, PA Micropolitan Statistical Area. It is defined as part of the Pittsburgh media market.

History

Venango County was created on March 12, 1800 from parts of Allegheny and Lycoming Counties. The name "Venango" comes from the Native American name of the region, Onenge, meaning Otter. This was corrupted in English as the Venango River.[4] The settlement at its mouth was likewise called Venango, and is the site of present-day South Side of Oil City, Pennsylvania.

Venango County was home to an oil boom in the years following discovery of natural oil (petroleum) in the mid-1850s.

George Bissell, a Yale University Chemistry professor, and Edwin L. Drake, a former railroad conductor, made the first successful use of a drilling rig on August 28, 1859 near Titusville, Pennsylvania. (Although Titusville is in Crawford County, the first oil well was drilled outside of town, less than a mile inside of the Venango County boundary.) This single well soon exceeded the entire cumulative oil output of Europe since the 1650s. Within weeks oil derricks were erected all over the area. Other oil boom towns located in Venango County included Franklin, Oil City, and the now defunct Pithole City The principal product of the oil was kerosene.

Drake Well Museum in Cherrytree Township

McClintocksville was a small community in Cornplanter Township in Venango County. In 1861, it was the location of Wamsutta Oil Refinery, the first business venture of Henry Huttleston Rogers, who became a leading United States capitalist, businessman, industrialist, financier, and philanthropist. Rogers and his young wife Abbie Palmer Gifford Rogers lived in a one-room shack there along Oil Creek for several years beginning in 1862.

Wells along Benninghoff Run in 1866

Shortly later, Rogers met oil pioneer Charles Pratt who purchased the entire output of the tiny Wamsutta Oil Refinery. In 1867, Rogers joined Pratt in forming Charles Pratt and Company, which was purchased by Standard Oil in 1874. Rogers became one of the key men in John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Trust.

After joining Standard Oil, Rogers invested heavily in various industries, including copper, steel, mining, and railways. The Virginian Railway is widely considered his final life's achievement. Rogers amassed a great fortune, estimated at over $100 million, and became one of the wealthiest men in the United States. He was also a generous philanthropist, providing many public works for his hometown of Fairhaven, Massachusetts, and financially assisting helping such notables as Mark Twain, Helen Keller, and Dr. Booker T. Washington.

Perhaps in one of history's ironies, another resident of Venango County about the same time as Henry and Abbie Rogers was a little girl named Ida M. Tarbell, whose father was an independent producer whose small business was ruined by the South Improvement Company scheme of 1871 and the conglomerate which became Standard Oil. Introduced to each other in 1902 by their mutual friend Mark Twain, Tarbell who had become an investigative journalist and Rogers, who knew of her work, shared meetings and information over a two-year period which led to her epoch work, The History of the Standard Oil Company, published in 1904, which many historians feel helped fuel public sentiment against the giant company and helped lead to the court-ordered break-up of it in 1911.

The oil heritage of Venanago County is remembered by a Pennsylvania State Park and many heritage sites which help tell the story and memorialize the people of the oil boom of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Geography

French Creek (left) meets the Allegheny River at Riverfront Park in Franklin.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 683 square miles (1,770 km2), of which 674 square miles (1,750 km2) is land and 8.6 square miles (22 km2) (1.3%) is water.[5]

French Creek is formed near French Creek, New York and extends for a length of 117 miles (188 km) with a drainage area of 1,270 square miles (3,289 km²). It joins the Allegheny River near Franklin, Pennsylvania. The watershed area includes parts of Erie, Crawford, Venango, and Mercer Counties in Pennsylvania as well as Chautauqua County, New York.

Adjacent counties

Demographics

Historical population
Census Pop. %±
1800 1,130 —
1810 3,060 170.8%
1820 4,915 60.6%
1830 9,470 92.7%
1840 17,900 89.0%
1850 18,310 2.3%
1860 25,043 36.8%
1870 47,925 91.4%
1880 43,670 −8.9%
1890 46,640 6.8%
1900 49,648 6.4%
1910 56,359 13.5%
1920 59,184 5.0%
1930 63,226 6.8%
1940 63,958 1.2%
1950 65,328 2.1%
1960 65,295 −0.1%
1970 62,353 −4.5%
1980 64,444 3.4%
1990 59,381 −7.9%
2000 57,555 −3.1%
2010 54,984 −4.5%
Est. 2014 53,529 [6] −2.6%
U.S. Decennial Census[7]
1790-1960[8] 1900-1990[9]
1990-2000[10] 2010-2013[1]
Age pyramid for Venango County based on census 2000 data

As of the census[11] of 2000, there were 57,565 people, 22,747 households, and 15,922 families residing in the county. The population density was 85 people per square mile (33/km²). There were 26,904 housing units at an average density of 40 per square mile (15/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 97.64% White, 1.09% Black or African American, 0.18% Native American, 0.23% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.17% from other races, and 0.67% from two or more races. 0.52% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 33.0% were of German, 12.7% Irish, 12.2% American, 8.6% English, 5.7% Polish and 5.3% Italian ancestry according to Census 2000.

There were 22,747 households out of which 30.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.80% were married couples living together, 9.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.00% were non-families. 26.20% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.45 and the average family size was 2.93.

In the county, the population was spread out with 24.20% under the age of 18, 7.20% from 18 to 24, 26.70% from 25 to 44, 25.10% from 45 to 64, and 16.80% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 95.40 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.10 males.

In the 2004 United States presidential election, voters registered in Venango County cast 9,024 (38.1%) ballots for Kerry, 14,472 (61.2%) for Bush, and 163 (0.7%) for "other".

Micropolitan Statistical Area

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See also: List of Micropolitan Statistical Areas

The United States Office of Management and Budget[12] has designated Venango County as the Oil City, PA Micropolitan Statistical Area (µSA).[13] As of the 2010 U.S. Census[14] the micropolitan area ranked 9th most populous in the State of Pennsylvania and the 182nd most populous in the United States with a population of 54,984.

Law and government

County Commissioners

  • Timothy S. Brooks, Chairman (Republican)
  • Vincent L. Witherup (Republican)
  • Bonnie S. Summers (Democrat)

State Senate

State House of Representatives

United States House of Representatives

Economy

Major employers

Pennzoil and Quaker State left the Venango area for Texas. After leaving the area they merged and stopped refining oil. They now concentrate on retail oil and automotive additives produced for them by other companies. As of 2007, the two companies only exist as brand names after the company disappeared because of successive mergers.

With global crude oil prices touching US $100 in early 2008, long-dormant interest reawakened in Venango County's remaining oil reserves, 70% undrilled by one estimate. High prices make less accessible oil deposits worth extracting. For instance, a Canadian firm proposed drilling several large mines and allowing oil to flood the tunnels.[15]

Education

Map of Venango County, Pennsylvania Public School Districts

Public school districts

Partial districts

These public school districts are only partially in Venango County:

Colleges and universities

Transportation

Recreation

Pennsylvania State Parks and Forests

Attractions and tourism

Communities

Map of Venango County, Pennsylvania with Municipal Labels showing Cities and Boroughs (red), Townships (white), and Census-designated places (blue).

Under Pennsylvania law, there are four types of incorporated municipalities: cities, boroughs, townships, and, in at most two cases, towns. The following cities, boroughs and townships are located in Venango County:

Cities

Boroughs

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Townships

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Census-designated places

Census-designated places are geographical areas designated by the U.S. Census Bureau for the purposes of compiling demographic data. They are not actual jurisdictions under Pennsylvania law. Other unincorporated communities, such as villages, may be listed here as well.

Unincorporated communities

Notable people

See also

External links

References

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  12. ↑ http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb
  13. ↑ http://www.census.gov/econ/census/media/forms/pa.html
  14. ↑ http://www.census.gov/2010census/
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ http://pennsylvania.hometownlocator.com/pa/venango/siverly.cfm

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