The Beauty Around Us

A River Flows Through Its Downtown

By Linda G. on March 6, 2014

Bob took off work Monday and Tuesday. I planned Monday’s activities; Bob was in charge of Tuesday’s activities. As one would expect, Monday was filled with photographic opportunities. I am sharing the fruit of those photographic opportunities with you throughout this week.

We departed home (Warren, PA) around 9:00 am. We didn’t return home until 9 hours later! We drove through several western Pennsylvania counties. Our first stop was in Clarion, PA.  Our second stop was at Brady’s Bend Overlook and East Brady.  Our third stop was in Parker.  We made a few photo stops while on the road between Parker and Cranberry.  We ate lunch at Bob Evans Restaurant, while in Cranberry.  After lunch, we drove to the Kennerdell Scenic Overlook.  From Kennerdell we drove to Oil City.

Oil City is in Venango County, Pennsylvania.  The city is located at the confluence of the Allegheny River and Oil Creek.  Foothills surround the city.  We have passed through Oil City numerous times since 1998, the year that I moved to Warren.  Until Monday, we had stopped in Oil City only one other time, way back in June 2008.  We stopped at a coffee house that day, while on our way to Pittsburgh.  That stop in June 2008 was short.  Monday’s stop, although for a longer period of time, was too short as well.  I would like to spend more time in Oil City.

With the city surrounded by foothills and the Allegheny River flowing through its downtown, Oil City is very picturesque.  The photograph displayed above was taken by Timothy Rudisille.  I know Tim from Facebook.  Tim is an outstanding photographer.  You may see more of his wonderful photographs at Timothy Rudisille Photography.

On our way out of Oil City, we stopped at Murray’s Scenic Overlook on GrandView Road.

At the overlook, there are picnic tables for sitting, a telescope for viewing, interpretive plaques for reading, and a hot dog restaurant for eating (in season).  Oil City played a key role in the initial exploration and development of the petroleum industry.  After the first oil wells were drilled nearby in the 1850s, Oil City became central in the petroleum industry while hosting headquarters for the Pennzoil, Quaker State and Wolf’s Head motor oil companies. The plaques contain information about the early refineries and the flood and fire of 1892 where, according to a Wikipedia article, some 60 lives were lost and property valued at more than $1 million was destroyed.

After leaving Oil City, we made two more stops before returning home.  I will share photographs from those two stops in my next blog post.