Hydetown Borough Hall is located on Main Street, Hydetown PA 16328; phone 814‑827‑1617.
Beginnings
In 1824 Charles Ridgeway purchased 800 acres of land, and removed to within the present borough limits, where he remained until his death in old age. Elijah Hyde and his son William started the first store. They purchased the Titus Mills (erected 1810 on Little Oil Creek by Daniel Titus), and for many years carried on saw-milling extensively. William Hyde was the first postmaster. The office was originally called Oil Creek, now Hydetown, and was established about 1856. Benjamin Gilson, a lumberman, came to the place about 1845. Penile Crane opened the first hotel in 1852 or about that date.
The first school was taught as early as 1830 by Miss Sally Shelmadine. The first schoolhouse was erected in 1838. The village [ca. 1885] contained 3 general stores, a grist-mill, a steam saw-mill, a planing mill, a stave and shingle mill, a jelly mill, hotels, and two religious societies.
A petition to incorporate Oil Creek Borough was filed January 18, 1868, and approved by the grand jury the same month.
Nearby Towns: Titusville City •