Jan Bemis

Corry Jan Bemis

By 1862, three railroads--the Atlantic & Great Western Railroad, the Sunbury & Erie Railroad, and the Oil Creek Railroad--ran through Corry. With three railways, Corry quickly grew. Though it did not have any oil wells, Corry became the most important transportation center in the oil region. Factories sprang up in this transportation hub, making products from wooden butter pails to parts for the space program. The Corry State Fish Hatchery, still in operation, is the oldest fish hatchery east of the Mississippi River. Ferdinand Johnson, known for drawing the Moon Mullins comic strip; Gen. Clarence Shoop, vice president of Hughes Aircraft Company; and Inez Mecusker, a world-famous opera star who sang for both Napoleon III and Queen Victoria of England, were all born in the Corry area.