The oil rush in America started in Titusville, Pennsylvania, in the Oil Creek Valley when Edwin L. Drake struck "rock oil" there in 1859. Titusville and other towns on the shores of Oil Creek expanded rapidly as oil wells and refineries shot up across the region. Oil quickly became one of the most valuable commodities in the United States and railroads expanded into Western Pennsylvania to ship petroleum to the rest of the country.

Oil Creek is a 46.7-mile (75.2 km) tributary of the Allegheny River that is located in Venango and Crawford counties in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in the United States.