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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



OIL CITY AND THE ALLEGHENY RIVER 



It was western Pennsylvania that taught the world the use of petroleum and sent that 

 substance on its grand march around the globe. Situated 55 miles southeast of the Erie shore, 

 Oil City is the center of the great oil district of Pennsylvania. It is estimated that in ten 

 years there was a yield of sixty million barrels of oil from the valley of Oil Creek, which 

 flows into the Allegheny River at this point. Although the present yield is inconsiderable, 

 compared with the heyday of the oil flow, Oil City is still an important industrial center, with 

 its numerous oil refineries, machine shops, and foundries. 



of bituminous coal are richer than al 

 gold mines of the earth. 



the 



A CANAE EQUIPPED WITH AMPHIBIOUS 

 BOATS 



A high plain, undulating in wide, low 

 swells, and gently descending southward 

 and southwestward, this area comprises 

 more than half of the territory of the 

 State. Its oil and its gas have been al- 

 most exhausted under the demands of in- 

 dustry, but its coal mines go on and on, 



yielding more fuel in a year than all the 

 world produced at the beginning of the 

 American Civil War. 



With its unequalled situation as re- 

 spects the navigable waters of the nation, 

 it was but natural that Pennsylvania 

 should have early taken steps to develop 

 her inland waterways. A hundred mil- 

 lion dollars were spent in the building of 

 canals to handle the State's commerce. 

 Public appropriations and private funds 

 alike were made available for the build- 



