Fire Rode the Flood: Disaster in the Oil Region

A boy sits among the debris in Titusville

For most of May and the early part of June in 1892, Northwestern Pennsylvania was soaked in a seemingly endless period of rain which culminated in four days of torrential downpours that devastated the entire region. This unprecedented act of nature wreaked havoc for area residents making roads and bridges impassable. In the early morning hours of June 5th, however, the situation turned catastrophic for those in Titusville and Oil City, and the aftermath would produce scenes reminiscent of the great tragedy in Johnstown just a few years earlier. The following dispatch filed on the 6th of June captures the highlights of this horrific event.

Crawford County Native Won the First Indy 500

Ray Harroun 1879-1968

The winner of the first Indianapolis 500, Ray Harroun was born on January 12, 1879 in Spartansburg, Pennsylvania in northern Crawford County. Harroun was the youngest of Russell and Lucy Harroun’s four children, and as he grew up, it was clear Harroun had no use for school work. Eventually he dropped out early, but despite the lack of a formal education, Ray demonstrated a natural understanding of cars and engineering, later earning the nickname, “Little Professor” for his work in designing race cars and his almost scientific approach to racing strategy.

Racing Career

Harroun’s interest in automobiles lead to his early career in racing, and by 1905, he had built his first racing car. Among his initial races, Harroun participated in the original distance race from Chicago to New York in 1903, during which Ray and four others drove in shifts non-stop to establish the record of 76 hours at the end of September, 1903. That time was bested by another team nearly a year later, but Harroun and his team would re-take the title again with a time of 58 hrs, 35 min—a record that would stand for nearly two years.

Marion County was the Home of the World's First Oil Boom

Proposed boundaries of Marion County and Titusville as the seat

Everybody knows that the northwest corner of Pennsylvania is made up of Crawford, Erie, Warren and Marion counties: The last named after the Revolutionary War hero, Francis "Swamp Fox" Marion, whose guerrilla tactics in South Carolina made him a thorn in the side of any British commander who opposed him.

Marion County is justifiably called "the home of the world's first oil boom." The money generated by the petroleum industry there led to the development of not only a rich history and solid infrastructure, but one of the grandest courthouses in the state.

Whoa... Wait… Hold on there a second… Marion County? Yep. Absolutely.