PENNSYLMANIA
Entertaining and informative stories of people and events in the history of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, presented by Mark Smith.
Recent Episodes
Welcome to Pithole (Ep3)
EPISODE 3: WELCOME TO PITHOLE. What happens when the wickedest man in the world arrives in the wickedest place in the world? It’s February of 1866, and the oil boom of Northwestern Pennsylvania is in high gear. Ben Hogan, welcome to Pithole, Pennsylvania. The discovery of oil and the birth o…
The Titusville Gusher Part 2 (Ep2)
EPISODE 2: THE TITUSVILLE GUSHER, PART TWO. Part One ended in about 1880, with John D. Rockefeller and the Standard Oil Company crushing the independent oil producers of Northwest Pennsylvania, where oil was first discovered in 1859 and the industry was born. In Part Two, we learn how journalist I…
The Titusville Gusher Part 1 (Ep1)
EPISODE 1, THE TITUSVILLE GUSHER, PART ONE: Titusville, Pennsylvania, was where the first oil well was drilled in 1859. Thus began a new industry, which birthed a new economic boom that created several oil boom towns. Some of them still exist today, like Titusville and Oil City, and some became …
Introducing Pennsylmania
TRAILER: Mark Smith introduces his new podcast on the history of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The first episode launched on Tuesday, January 6th, 2026, with new episodes posted every two weeks or so.