Petroleum Center, Pennsylvania

Petroleum Center is a populated place and ghost town in Cornplanter Township, Venango County, Pennsylvania, United States.

Petroleum Center is located at 41°30′58″N 79°40′57″W / 41.51611°N 79.68250°W / 41.51611; -79.68250 (41.516, -79.682), at an elevation of 1,070 feet (330 m) above sea level, along the banks of Oil Creek.

George Henry Bissell, James Bishop and others formed the Central Petroleum Company which owned the farm in the beginning of 1866, when daily production topped 1,000 barrels per day.

By the summer of 1866, over 3,000 people called the Centre home with a bank, two churches, a theater, a half-dozen hotels/boarding houses, and stores serving all the needs of the growing community.

Bissel & Co. Banking House stimulated economic growth with its direct ties to financial institutions in New York City.

Site of the former downtown of Petroleum Center, taken in 2009. Visible on the corner is part of the stone foundation of a bank building.
Main Street in Petroleum Center in the 19th century