Tionesta Lake and Pithole

 We headed to Tionesta Lake on Friday. We were up for some fishing and normally hit the spillway, but veered off to check out the lake. Beautiful! We'll be back to rent a boat. It was so quiet - so peaceful. Very much worth a return visit.






John's very first foray to Venango County included a stop at Pithole. If you live in Oil City, you are laughing - because there's nothing to see there. This of course, fascinated him, and long before I ever saw Oil City, I heard about Pithole.

For the rest of you, Pithole is the classic boom town story, at warp speed. Within months of striking oil, the town's population rose to 15,000. By the following year, it was down to 2,000 and eventually what remained, burned. There were something like 50 hotels here.

Now there's open space, with mowed rows showing the street layout.

Even the PA Conservancy closed their tourist station. Pithole! I think your name cursed you. However, it's a beautiful and tranquil spot. A deer crossed our path as we were leaving - we were about 5 feet away. Even the wildlife bail.

On the closed observation deck.

Looking over the observation railing.