It won't pump oil, but planners hope that by tying in to other historical tourism efforts, the derrick can pump money into the local economy.

"What we were looking for is an opportunity to make the entrance to the city dramatic and tie it to the birthplace of the oil industry," said Barbara Zolli, director of the Drake Well Museum, located just outside the city.

"Titusville was at one time an incredibly wealthy community and oil was the reason," said Brian Sanford, mayor of the city of about 6,200 in Crawford County. "That's a story that an awful lot of people don't know."

While a handful of wells still operate in the region, Zolli said it's not surprising Titusville itself has no derricks.

"I'm sure there were quite a few in the heyday of oil, but because they were wooden, they did not survive," Zolli said.

The planned derrick would be wooden, as was the one Col. Edwin Drake used when he struck oil in 1859. Metal derricks didn't appear until the late 1800s. Drake's derrick was 42 feet high and other early wooden derricks ranged to about 70 feet.

A replica of Drake's derrick stands on the grounds of the museum, less than half a mile from the Titusville border. Several others are located in Oil Creek State Park.

"It's close enough, but it's not in Titusville," Sanford said.

Sanford said the planned Titusville derrick would be the most visible. It would be located on state Route 8, greeting motorists as they drive north into the city down a long hill.

Zolli got the idea after visiting a town in Texas where street signs are mounted on small derricks.

"We were looking at the project from an advertising (and) promotional point of view," Zolli said. Zolli is on the Titusville Derrick Committee which, along with the Titusville Area Chamber of Commerce, supports the derrick project.

Roxanne Hitchcock, an oil historian, said the derrick was a good idea. People across the world visit the region because of its connection to oil, she said.

About 50,000 people visit the museum or nearby park annually and about 11 percent are foreign, Zolli said.

"As the smokestack industry has moved out of the area, we are very dependent on tourism," Zolli said.

City council is considering the plan. Some members are worried children might be tempted to climb it, thus creating a liability, but Sanford said there's no opposition to the idea.

"We'd like people to know that a great deal of world history was predicated on what happened here in 1859," Sanford said.