Moran Street

The bend in the Allegheny River at Oil City slowed the speed of the river's waters, providing a spot for barges and rafts to land easily. For many years, the Bannons and Halydays rented rooms in their homes and space in their barns to bargemen and rafters using the landing at Oil Creek Furnace. About 1852 or 1853, Thomas Moran settled in the area and built a large inn (Moran House) next to the Bannon home. It proved popular and soon expanded, and became a local landmark. Moran street is named for the Moran family who settled in what would become Oil City in 1845. Two of Thomas Moran's sons, Daniel and Thomas J., held the position of Oil City commissioner in the 1880s.