PA Museums

Exploring the Penn Brad Oil Museum in McKean County

Collage of four photos taken at the Penn Brad Oil Museum in McKean County, Pennsylvania, capturing highlights from the museum and its exhibits: the top left image shows the museum’s rustic wooden exterior with a tall oil derrick and American flag; the top right image features a historic nitroglycerine wagon used for transporting explosives in the oil fields, displayed inside a wooden barn with vintage oil company signs; the bottom left image shows an indoor exhibit with a steam-powered fire engine and gasoline pump surrounded by oil industry memorabilia; and the bottom right image displays shelves filled with colorful vintage oil cans and containers from brands like Kendall, Pennzoil, Wolf’s Head, and Quaker State, reflecting the history of oil production in the Bradford Oil Field.

If you’re looking for information about visiting the Penn Brad Oil Museum in McKean County, you’re in the right place!

A display area inside the Penn Brad Oil Museum in McKean County, Pennsylvania, featuring vintage oil industry artifacts including an antique steam-powered oil field boiler mounted on wooden wheels, an old-fashioned red gasoline pump, glass display cases filled with historical photographs, documents, and memorabilia, and shelves lined with colorful vintage oil cans; additional items include a vintage oil company uniform hanging on display and signage related to Kendall Motor Oil.

The Penn Brad Oil Museum retraces the history of the Bradford Oil Field, the world’s first billion dollar oilfield, where over 90,000 wells were drilled.

Indoor exhibit at the Penn Brad Oil Museum in McKean County, Pennsylvania, showcasing vintage oil field equipment and machinery, including a rusted early tractor with metal tracks, large industrial engines, oil pumping equipment, and an assortment of hand tools mounted on wooden shelves and walls; the display area features historic oil company signs from Pennzoil, Kendall, Wolf’s Head, and Quaker State, reflecting the rich oil heritage of the Bradford Oil Field.

Through artifacts, interactive exhibits, and educational displays, the museum tells the story of how this rural region became known as the “High-grade Oil Metropolis of the World.”

Welcome sign at the Penn Brad Oil Museum in McKean County, Pennsylvania, providing visitors with a brief history of the Bradford Oil Field, discovered in 1871, recognized as the first giant oil field spanning parts of Pennsylvania and New York, and the first to produce a billion dollars worth of oil; the sign includes a map of the Bradford Oil Field, information about its role in pioneering secondary oil recovery through waterflooding, and a message emphasizing the museum’s mission to preserve and display the region’s petroleum industry heritage.

Directions | Hours | Admission Fees

The Penn Brad Oil Museum is located at 901 South Ave, Bradford, PA 16701.

The museum is open from April – October the following days/hours: Thursday 9:00 am – 4:00 pm | Friday 9:00 am – 4:00 pm | Saturday 9:00 am – 2:00 pm.

Street view of the Penn Brad Oil Museum in McKean County, Pennsylvania, featuring a rustic wooden building with a covered front porch and rocking chairs, a tall wooden oil derrick in the background, and a large roadside sign identifying the museum and its seasonal hours of operation; an American flag-themed "OPEN" banner flutters nearby, and the scene is set against a backdrop of rolling hills and a cloudy sky.

Admission fees as of 2025 are: Adults: $6.00 | Seniors: $5.00 | Children 12 and under as well as active military and their families FREE.

Interactive exhibit at the Penn Brad Oil Museum in McKean County, Pennsylvania, featuring a small working model of an oil pump jack atop a display cabinet showing an educational video about oil drilling; surrounding the exhibit are diagrams and advertisements for McGregor Working Barrel Company from Bradford, PA, highlighting tools and equipment used in the oil industry, with vintage illustrations and technical drawings explaining the function of working barrels and other oil field tools.

What You’ll See at the Penn Brad Oil Museum

One of the most visible and impressive exhibits at the Penn Brad Oil Museum is a replica of a 72 foot tall, 1890’s era drilling rig.

Outdoor exhibit at the Penn Brad Oil Museum in McKean County, Pennsylvania, featuring a reconstructed wooden oil derrick with a walking beam mechanism used for early oil drilling, set against a cloudy sky with trees in the background; a wooden ramp and walkway lead up to the derrick, and a Penn Brad Oil Museum sign is visible in the distance near a road and nearby homes.

This towering wooden structure dominates the outdoor display area and helps visitors visualize what an active oil rig once looked like.

View looking upward from the base of a reconstructed wooden oil derrick at the Penn Brad Oil Museum in McKean County, Pennsylvania, showcasing the framework of the towering structure, pulleys, cables, and drilling equipment used in historic oil field operations, with various tools hanging on the wooden interior walls and a glimpse of additional outdoor exhibits visible in the background.

Inside the derrick, you can see a close-up view of a historic wooden winch system used to raise and lower drilling equipment.

Close-up view of a historic wooden winch system inside a reconstructed oil derrick at the Penn Brad Oil Museum in McKean County, Pennsylvania, featuring large wooden and metal wheels, thick rope wound around a wooden spool, and various mechanical components used to raise and lower drilling equipment in early oil field operations; the scene is surrounded by the wooden walls and floor of the oil rig structure.

The museum’s entrance is marked by a rustic wooden building and a large roadside sign welcoming guests to explore this important piece of Pennsylvania history.

Exterior view of the entrance to the Penn Brad Oil Museum in McKean County, Pennsylvania, featuring a rustic wooden building with teal double doors, an illuminated open sign, and a large yellow sign directing visitors to the museum, library, gift shop, tool house, drilling rig, and company house; a commemorative stone marker for the Custer City Centennial from 1877 to 1977 is positioned in front of the entrance walkway.

Just inside the museum, the Dog House Theater offers a short film about the history of the Bradford Oil Field.

Entrance to the Dog House Theater inside the Penn Brad Oil Museum in McKean County, Pennsylvania, featuring sliding wooden barn doors leading to a small theater where visitors can watch a film about the history of the Bradford Oil Field; the scene also includes vintage oil industry artifacts such as an oil barrel, an old oil can, framed prints, and a banner commemorating the Bradford Oil Centennial from 1871 to 1971.

This film gives visitors an overview of how the oil industry developed locally and why this region was so vital to the energy needs of the nation.

A historical display at the Penn Brad Oil Museum in McKean County, Pennsylvania, featuring a sketch of Job Moses, the first person to successfully strike oil in the Bradford Oil Field in November 1865, along with an illustration of the Job Moses No. 1 oil well showing a tall wooden derrick, smoke rising from a nearby building, and workers operating in the surrounding oil field landscape.

One of the most unique exhibits is a nitroglycerine wagon, used for transporting explosives to blast oil wells.

Indoor exhibit at the Penn Brad Oil Museum in McKean County, Pennsylvania, featuring a historic nitroglycerine wagon from the New York Glycerine Company used for transporting explosives in the oil fields; the wagon has large wooden wheels, a canvas canopy, and a mannequin driver dressed in period clothing, with vintage oil company signs from Pennzoil, Mobil, and others mounted on the wooden walls of the display area.

Another fascinating exhibit is a fire engine that would have been used in oil field emergencies.

Indoor exhibit at the Penn Brad Oil Museum in McKean County, Pennsylvania, featuring a historic steam-powered oil field fire engine mounted on large wooden wheels, surrounded by vintage oil industry artifacts such as an antique gasoline pump, oil cans, glass oil bottles, and Kendall Motor Oils signage; the display area also includes framed photographs, advertisements, and memorabilia from the Bradford Oil Field's rich history.

The indoor exhibits also feature collections of vintage oil cans, bottles, and advertising memorabilia from companies like Kendall, Pennzoil, and Wolf’s Head.

Display of vintage oil cans and containers at the Penn Brad Oil Museum in McKean County, Pennsylvania, featuring colorful packaging from well-known Pennsylvania oil brands such as Kendall, Wolf’s Head, Pennzoil, Quaker State, Amalie, and All Pen, showcasing the branding and marketing history of motor oils and lubricants produced in the Bradford Oil Field region.

Visitors can walk through a replica oil lease house, showcasing what living conditions were like for early oil workers and their families.

Replica of an early oil field worker’s house on display at the Penn Brad Oil Museum in McKean County, Pennsylvania, featuring rustic wooden walls, vintage furnishings, a cast iron stove, a large wooden dining table with chairs, a roll-top desk, and various household items meant to recreate the living conditions of oil workers during the Bradford Oil Field boom era.

The museum’s resource library is another highlight, filled with books, photographs, and documents about the oil industry and local history.

Research library inside the Penn Brad Oil Museum in McKean County, Pennsylvania, featuring tall wooden bookshelves filled with books, binders, photographs, and archival materials related to the history of the oil industry and the Bradford Oil Field; the room includes chairs for visitors, framed historical images, and displays of research resources documenting Pennsylvania's oil heritage.

A small gift shop allows guests to purchase souvenirs, books, and locally-themed items.

Gift shop area inside the Penn Brad Oil Museum in McKean County, Pennsylvania, featuring shelves stocked with souvenir items such as mugs, hats, glassware, postcards, books, and oil industry-themed memorabilia; the display includes vintage oil field signs, photographs, and advertisements, along with a colorful mural above depicting a bustling historic oil field scene with wooden derricks and pump jacks.

The Penn Brad Oil Museum also educates visitors about Cline Well #1, the oldest still-operating oil well in the Bradford Oil Field, located nearby in downtown Bradford.

An informational sign at the Penn Brad Oil Museum in McKean County, Pennsylvania, describing Cline Oil No. 1 as the oldest producing oil well in Bradford; the sign details that the well was drilled in the early 1870s to a depth of 1,125 feet into Bradford Third Sand, producing three-quarters of a barrel, or 31½ gallons, of crude oil daily, and includes a simple diagram of the well's structure alongside text with a weathered and cracked paint appearance.

This well, drilled in the early 1870s, still produces oil today, demonstrating the lasting legacy of this historic region.

A brightly painted oil pump jack in Bradford, Pennsylvania, featuring a patriotic red, white, and blue color scheme with white stars along the blue walking beam; the surrounding area includes oil field equipment and tanks, with a chain-link fence and residential homes visible in the background on an overcast day.

Final Thoughts

Visiting the Penn Brad Oil Museum offers a deep appreciation for the ingenuity, challenges, and triumphs of America’s early oil pioneers.

Display of vintage oil samples at the Penn Brad Oil Museum in McKean County, Pennsylvania, featuring glass bottles filled with various grades of crude oil and refined oil products from the Bradford Refining Company, each labeled with detailed information; the bottles are arranged in front of a colorful All Pen Motor Oil sign promoting Pennsylvania-grade oil with the slogan "No Oil Lasts Longer," highlighting the area's rich oil refining history.

It’s an unforgettable stop for anyone interested in Pennsylvania history, industrial heritage, or the story of the world’s first billion dollar oilfield.

Exterior view of the Penn Brad Oil Museum in McKean County, Pennsylvania, featuring rustic wooden buildings with metal roofs, a large yellow sign identifying the museum, an American flag flying on a pole, and a tall wooden oil derrick representing the region's rich oil heritage; a sidewalk and wooden fence guide visitors to the entrance, while vintage oil field equipment is displayed outdoors against a backdrop of rolling hills and cloudy skies.

The Drake Well Museum and Park in Venango County preserves the site where on August 27, 1859 Colonel Edwin Drake and those working for him drilled the world’s first successful oil well.

A collage of four photos taken at the Drake Well Museum and Park in Venango County, PA, showcasing various aspects of the museum. The top left image features a replica of the Drake Well, the historic site of the first successful oil well in the United States, set among tall trees in a park-like environment. The top right image shows an exhibit of a 1912 Hatfield truck prominently displaying Quaker State products, along with other vintage oil industry-related displays. The bottom left image highlights an exhibit titled "Western Pennsylvania Transformed the World," which details the impact of Pennsylvania's petroleum pioneers with portraits of key figures in the industry. The bottom right image captures a detailed diorama of oil derricks and drilling equipment, illustrating the early days of oil extraction and the development of the petroleum industry. Together, these images provide a comprehensive view of the museum's exhibits, which explore the history and significance of the oil industry in Pennsylvania and its global impact.

Nearby Attractions

The Zippo/Case Museum in McKean County is dedicated to telling the story of Zippo lighters and Case knives, two iconic products made in Bradford.

The Zippo/Case Museum in Bradford, Pennsylvania.

The Eldred WWII Museum in McKean County is a 15,000 square-foot facility that honors the heroes of World War II through powerful exhibits, artifacts, and educational displays.

Collage of four photos from the Eldred WWII Museum in McKean County, PA, featuring the exterior of the museum with a tank and mural, a naval exhibit with model ships and transport artifacts, a display of World War II-era military helmets and uniforms beneath historic posters and model planes, and a group of mannequins dressed in international military uniforms positioned around a detailed battlefield diorama.

The Marilla Bridges Trail in McKean County is a gorgeous 1-mile loop trail around the Marilla Reservoir near Bradford.

The Eric Benjamin Covered Bridge along the Marilla Bridges Trail in McKean County.

Kinzua Bridge State Park in McKean County is home to what was once the longest and tallest railway bridge in the entire world – The Kinzua Viaduct.

Scenes from Kinzua Bridge State Park in Pennsylvania.

Find even more great spots to explore all across Pennsylvania with the interactive PA Bucket List Travel Map!

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