In Celebration of Sesquicentennial (1872-2022)
St. Petersburg Borough celebrated its Centennial (1872-1972) in 1972. The year 1871-1872 was a prominent year for this small town in Clarion County. An oil well drilled by Markus Hulling, drilled on the east end of town in that year helped bring a robust jump in population from less than 100 to nearly 10,000. Quickly, St. Petersburg became the largest town in Clarion County.
The oil boom excitement is said to have drawn John D. Rockefeller who did business in town as he laid interest in the Antwerp Pipe Line Company.
To honor the significance of its history and 100th year celebration in 1972, the borough invited the families of St. Petersburg to participate by filling a time capsule of artifacts, family photos, an (historical booklet 1872-1972) coins of the day, newspaper, certificates of importance etc.
On Thursday, August 19, 2021 this historic time capsule was excavated and brought to the surface nearly fifty years to the day it was buried.
On Saturday, August 20, 2022 exactly fifty years to the day, the contents were revealed to celebrate St. Petersburg’s 150 year anniversary. The contents of the display were on display in the borough building gym, the historical room, Vasey Garage Museum.
St. Petersburg in the beginning:
The most prominent of these pioneers were the Ashbaugh, Collner, Dittman, Foust, Fink, Ritts, Shoup and Vensel families. The land which St. Petersburg now occupies originally belonged to a tract of land owned by Richard Peters, a noted jurist residing in Philadelphia.
For this reason and the fact that Judge Peters donated five acres to the village for church and cemetery purposes, the town was named in his honor. When the village was incorporated as a borough, February 23, 1872, Barney Vensel was chosen the first burgess of the town, and a council comprised of G. C. Fink, Joel Fink, D. S. Herron, Nelson Vensel, C. H. Wilton, and Daniel Whitling were elected. To assist in keeping law and order, a twenty-four hour police force of eight to ten were employed.
No less than fifty business places existed, which included not only food and clothing stores, but the various enterprises necessary to the development of the oil industry. For a time, four oil companies had offices in the town, and an oil exchange was located here. The St. Petersburg Savings Bank was established at this time with J. V. Ritts, President and C. H. Martin, Cashier.
The social, educational, and spiritual interests grew in accordance with the industrial progress. Four lodges, Masonic, Workman, Odd Fellows, and Knights of Pythias, had charters in the town. An opera house with a seating capacity of 800 to 1,000 was built, which staged the best shows of the day.
Three newspapers were published, the earliest being the "Crude Local," first edited by F. H. Tozer in June 1872. Seven school buildings were necessary to accommodate those of school age. Six churches existed in town, the oldest of which were the Reformed and the Lutheran, the former having been built in 1834, and used jointly, by both congregations until 1854. Besides these were the Presbyterian, the Methodist and the Catholic Churches, and a Jewish Synagogue.
St. Petersburg, now is essentially a residential community, with a population slightly over 300 according to the 2020 census.