Chicora might be seen as a small borough nestled in the east of Butler County, but nearly 300 years of history paints a larger picture.

The borough started as a small milling town, but exploded in population in the late 1800s as a result of an oil boom sweeping the region. After the boom dissipated and the 1900s arrived, the borough took shape into the Chicora we recognize today.

The history of Chicora has been captured through different historical writings, such as “History of Butler County Pennsylvania, 1895.” Much of the information has been compiled together and placed on the borough’s website.

The borough’s history dates back to 1794, when surveyors James Hemphill and Rudolph Barnhart traveled to Donegal Township to search for land to homestead, History of Butler County said.

They settled on a 439-acre tract adjacent to Buffalo Creek and family members of Hemphill and Barnhart joined them over the following years. The first business in the area, a whiskey distillery owned by Hemphill, opened in 1803 and operated until 1846.

In 1805, Abraham Lasher established a mill on the bank of Buffalo Creek before it was bought, razed and replaced by a larger mill in 1836 by Philip Barnhart. He had land adjacent to the mill surveyed into lots and named the ensuing settlement Millerstown.

The town also received its post office, which was named Barnhart’s Mills to avoid a naming conflict with another Millerstown in the state. It became an incorporated borough in 1855.

Throughout the mid-1800s, businesses such as a taverns, general stores, a bakery and a blacksmith’s shop came to open their doors in the village. By 1870, Millerstown was a quiet community of 207 residents and a few shops.

However, in the early 1870s, a new discovery would explode the hamlet’s population: oil. With the first wells constructed on nearby farms, the population of the village rose to 3,000 — and reportedly swelled at times to 7,000 or 8,000.

The population’s expansion led to new businesses that sold items such as hardware, stoves, sheet-iron and oil-well supplies. According to History of Butler County, it was said there were 80 saloons in the town in 1878.

At the peak of production, around 10,000 barrels of oil were coming out of Millerstown everyday. While production began to slow in the late 1870s, the boom was revived in 1884 when more oil was discovered near town.

By the end of the 19th century, the oil boom had moved away from the town and populations receded to about 1,000 — similar to the 2020 census population of 919.

During this time, the borough was also home to Ben Hogan, a feared businessman who established businesses throughout the Pennsylvania oil region. In 1873, he built and opened an opera house in Millerstown, the borough’s website said.

Shortly after construction, a minister asked Hogan if he could use the opera house during the weekends. Hogan agreed and offered the opera house could be used by any church or charitable organization, to which several agreed.

Hogan ended up walking away from the opera house with unimpressive profits. He announced he would be running for Congress, gave a speech in town and collected campaign donations before skipping town.

The borough also had another issue: natural gas. A byproduct of the oil drilling, people began to use the gas as a power source for illumination. The volatility of the gas and the appliances it powered caused 67 residents to petition borough council to prohibit usage.

Overnight on April 1, 1874, the Central Hotel in the borough caught fire, which ended up killing six and razing property worth an estimated $6.6 million in today’s money. More fires plagued the borough in 1875, 1877, 1884 and 1892.

With the turn of the 20th century and the end of the oil boom in the region, the borough of Millerstown shaped itself into a safer, more established community.

In 1891, a movement started among residents to change the name of the Millerstown and the Barnhart’s Mills post office, the borough’s website said. While the name of the borough remained unchanged, the post office was eventually renamed to Chicora.

According to the website, it is unclear what exactly inspired the name.

“In history, Chicora was the name of a mythical and reputedly bountiful Native American settlement thought to be hidden somewhere in the wilds of South Carolina and sought by various European explorers in the 16th century. There was also a Confederate ironclad, the CSS Chicora, based in Charlestown during the Civil War,” the website said.

In 1906, borough council ordered the construction of sidewalks and an ordinance requiring residents to maintain the sections in front of their homes. In 1908, Peoples Telephone Company were granted the rights to construct and operate a telephone system.

By the end of the 1920s, West Penn Power had brought electricity to the borough and a speed limit of 10 mph was established. The city continued modernizing throughout the decades alongside its institutions.

On Feb. 12, 1959, the borough officially changed the name of the borough from Millerstown to Chicora to match the post office’s name.

With the turn into the 21st century, Chicora once again saw activity as more and more homes began to rely on natural gas for power. The borough’s website said new technologies allowed more access to the Marcellus and Utica shales.

“As the settlement now referred to as Chicora enters it third century, the conclusion of historians that evaluated the borough’s progress over a hundred years ago is still fitting, ‘the enterprise and virtues’ of the men that came here to build a community ‘must be credited the substantial business and excellent social life of the town,’” the borough’s website said.