PETROLIA — For a couple hours every afternoon, the quiet of this small borough in northeastern Butler County is interrupted by the loud bells and whistles from trains and railroad crossings.

The trains pull up to the entrance of the now closed Indspec Chemical Corp. plant, switch to another set of tracks and leave town, like the 220 jobs at the plant did when it shut down in 2017.

Those job losses hurt the entire Petroleum Valley and the closing of NexTier Bank and USX Federal Credit Union branch offices in the borough over the last few years came as bad news, but a strong sense of community spirit among the borough’s less than 200 residents and business owners keep Petrolia alive.

Borough leaders say Petrolia’s remaining large employer Sonneborn is a good corporate neighbor that contributes to community activities and events. The sprawling plant property extends beyond the boundaries of the borough, which measures less than a half square mile, into neighboring Fairview Township.

Sonneborn, which produces chemicals for the personal care, pharmaceutical, agriculture, polymer and food processing industries, and is celebrating it’s 120th anniversary, contributes to Petrolia’s annual Community Day, said Robin McGinnins, who is president of the borough council and works in security for Sonneborn.

For this year’s Community Day, she said Sonneborn moved truck trailers from one of its lots so the borough could use it for event parking, lent the borough a generator, provided an oil boom that was placed in the creek for the duck races and donated to the event.

“They’re very good to us,” said council member Pam Osmer.

Two restaurants have been become fixtures, a bakery opened several years ago, children play at the community park, Petrolia Presbyterian Church provides a place for worship and several other small business keep the borough’s wheels turning. A doctor’s office and pharmacy are located in the Petroleum Valley Medical Center.

The Centurion Restaurant on Main Street opened in 1999, but it started out as the Century House Restaurant in 1973.

“I worked here back when I was a teenager,” Robin McGinnis said during a recent interview at the eatery.

Sharon Zimmel, whose husband, Mike, owns the restaurant, said regular customers and truck drivers come in for a deal on good food, and people who camp and boat on the nearby Allegheny River come for breakfast in the summer months.

“We get the same people come who regularly come in. I pride myself in that people can come in and get good food at a good price, and not get nickel-and-dimed,” Zimmel said.

She said she and her husband grew up in the area and enjoy the tight-knit feeling in the community.

“We’re small, and we have each other’s back. We help each other out,” Zimmel said. “It’s home.”

The Centurion is within eyesight of its only competition in town, The Oil Boom Saloon.

Close by is one of the borough’s newest additions, The Sweet Gremlin, a bakery that opened in August 2021 borrowing the name of Karns City Area School District’s mascot.

“We started the business to give back to the community,” said co-owner Jennifer McConnell, who grew up in Cabot and now lives in the area with her husband and bakery co-owner, Matt.

McConnell said she worked as a mental health therapist for 10 years before she began baking three nights a week at the Petrolia Mini Mart in 2020.

“We decided to open it because there’s nothing around here,” McConnell said. “I like to bake and want to give back.”

In the few years the bakery has been open, McConnell has managed to integrate the business into the community by making the apple dumplings for Gino’s Ice Cream Stand in Chicora, and buying ingredients and supplies from Slaters’ Meats and More of Karns City and Emmett’s Orchard in Harrisville.

The bakery has two part-time employees and a bread and bagel baker, she said.

The McConnells serve as volunteer coordinators of the farmers market held every Thursday from 3 to 6 p.m. in Petrolia.

Like many others in the borough, McConnell said a grocery store is needed. Now, residents have to drive to groceries in Butler, Parker, Kittanning or Rimbersburg to buy food. She said she would love to open an indoor farmers market, she said.

Business is a bit slow over the summer and picks up during holidays, but McConnell said she starts her 12-hour work days early every morning to keep her customers happy.

Among her specialties are cookies she customizes by printing company logos or other decorations over her icing using a printer that prints with edible ink. She opens the shop at 5 a.m. selling breakfast sandwiches and cinnamon rolls for early risers.

“I get here at 2 or 3 a.m. and leave at 2 or 3 p.m. I work seven days a week, but I love it,” McConnell said. “We make the most out of this small space.”

The borough has turned a different small space into the Petrolia Borough Community Park.

Officials give former Mayor Cinda Six, who resigned her position in June due to family health issues, credit for spearheading the effort to turn a neglected ballfield into the park. A dugout and an old fence were all that was left from the ballfield, she said.

“It used to be a Little League field but no one used it. It was overgrown. People walked their dogs there,” Six said.

She said she began her efforts before she was appointed to borough council, which preceded her time as mayor.

The effort began with a $5,000 “walking around money” grant from a state legislator and fundraisers in 2007 or 2008 followed by a county grant in 2009. More recently, Sonneborn donated money that was used for landscaping and tree planting, Six said.

“It was a real community effort,” Six said. “All the time was donated. I’m just proud the park is a bright spot in Petrolia. Kids come from all around. This year, we put in a pickleball court. It’s a busy little park.”

Brightening up Christmas this year will be new lighted decorations. The eight snowflake decorations purchased with money raised at last year’s Community Day will be placed on utility poles throughout town. One has already been set up at the park.