Give a Year-End Gift to Friends of Drake Well, Inc.!

Dear Friend,

It was a busy and productive year here at Drake Well Museum as visitation numbers continued to climb back to pre-pandemic levels. We welcomed 16,815 visitors to the site including over 1,000 school students! Visitation increased by over 5,000 people from the previous year, and we expect to have our numbers continue to increase in 2024. We also had a great season at our Historic Pithole City site which included 486 tickets sold for the annual Pithole Lantern Tours in October.

Goals for the coming year include building up our outreach programs, updating exhibits and improving interpretive signage at both Drake Well Museum and Pithole’s Visitor Center, starting the new David L. Weber Fellowship, and completing the Business of Oil exhibit area at Drake Well. Our goals also include initiatives we take on every year such as the hiring of student interns to assist with various projects, providing quality educational programs and special events to the public, boosting our marketing of the site and our events, and, most importantly, keeping Drake Well Museum and Historic Pithole City fully staffed and operational.

We continue to receive positive feedback from our visitors and school tours with many remarking on the quality of our exhibits, the natural beauty of the site, and, of course, the fascinating history of Drake Well and the early petroleum industry in Pennsylvania. Drake Well Museum and Park’s mission to uncover, preserve, and share this rich history has been successful since its inception, but for this mission to continue holding strong, the site depends on the support of its associate organization, Friends of Drake Well, Inc., and its donors.

The mission of Friends of Drake Well has always been to actively support Drake Well Museum and its associated sites through a partnership with the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC). This active support is evident in what we as an organization have accomplished over our 40 years of existence. These accomplishments would not be possible without the generosity of our donors.

With this in mind, we are asking for you to consider making a year-end gift to Friends of Drake Well to help us reach our goals for 2024 and beyond. You are part of the hundreds of members, donors, and volunteers who support Drake Well Museum and Park. Let us join together in making the New Year even better than the last!

Wishing you a wonderful holiday season and a joyful 2024!

Richard Baker, President

Emily Weaver, Executive Director

Friends of Drake Well, Inc.

Friends of Drake Well, Inc., is the 501(c)(3) community-based nonprofit organization that supports the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission in the administration and operation of Drake Well Museum and Park in Titusville, Pennsylvania. Donate to Friends of Drake Well today to help us in continuing our mission to support Drake Well's educational and outreach programs, preservation and management of its vast collections, interpretation of its story and that of the Oil Region at large through state-of-the-art exhibits, and much more.

By giving to Friends of Drake Well, you are ensuring the future of Drake Well Museum and its own mission to uncover, preserve, and share Pennsylvania's rich petroleum history, connecting past to present through a diversity of perspectives and inspiring our global audience to strive for a sustainable energy future.

The museum serves as the historical heart of Pennsylvania's Oil Region National Heritage Area and is one of 23 historic sites and museums that make up the Pennsylvania Trails of History. For over 80 years, Drake Well Museum and Park has preserved and interpreted the site of the Drake Well, chronicling the birth and development of the petroleum industry in Pennsylvania as well as its growth into a global enterprise. Visitors to the museum’s 240-acre site enjoy a board-for-board replica of Drake’s engine house built around the National Historic Landmark well, an operating central power oil lease, a standard drilling rig, 12,000 square feet of interior exhibits, and the largest artifact and archival collection focused on the birth of the modern petroleum industry. Drake Well Museum and Park also offers an abundance of year-round recreational opportunities, including paved bike trails, delayed harvest fly fishing in Oil Creek, modern picnic facilities, hiking trails, and a neighboring 9,000-acre state park.

Help us keep Pennsylvania's petroleum history alive for future generations to discover - give today!