Pointing out landmarks and for bearings, the left and right horizontal arrows point out Central and Greenside Avenues that run northward up the hill. As you may recall, near the top of the hill, Central Avenue transitions into Ridge Avenue. The two arrows on the right, point out the steeples of the Greenside Church and above it between College St. and Vine St. the St Patrick Church(erected 1907) . The upward arrows point to the back of the College Street School(erected 1895) and toward the sizable oil field seen at the time on the northern skyline
Canonsburg Oil Fields - circa 1900
This early 1900's photograph of oil derricks in the backyards of houses along Ridge Avenue. The steam from the pump engines show they were actively pumping up oil. The remarkably still "white" wash seen hanging on the clothesline in the foreground would be in the back yards of the houses near where Moscow(Moscov) once had his small store.The above pictures were excerpted from the December 2010 issue of the Jefferson College Times.
A very similar view of the oil field as seen above but taken from a more southerly vantage point and includes a good bit of Ridge Ave. in the foreground. You can see the entire light colored house in this picture where as in the one above, the light colored house just barely inches into the left side of the picture. As well, this picture must not have been taken on wash day.
picture provided by Marilyn Engel Cronin
picture provided by Marilyn Engel Cronin
The below picture postcard was recently provided by Debbie Moe.
Although not verified, it is believed this picture shows the oil field and derricks along the Ridge Avenue skyline but from a more Easterly vantage point.
