The story of River Road …

… a boulevard known for its historic homes and as the birthplace of oil scion Morgan Nutwell, the “founding father” of Middle Valley.

He grew up trolling the muddy banks of the bucolic Chickotee River, skipping rocks and ruining shoes his family couldn’t afford, each day waiting for his father’s vessel to return from a long day on the water. Known by dock workers and fisherman as “the kid,” he would wave them all in as the sun set, then walk home with his father, all the while dreaming of a bigger life – one beyond fishing and the poverty his family knew all too well.

Determined not to end up on a fishing boat, Nutwell studied constantly – first in the local high school, where he graduated at the top of his class, then later on scholarship at Cornell University. He was the first in his family to be admitted to higher education – and the first, as it turned out, to drop out.

The year was 1859. Word had spread from town to town that oil had been discovered in Western Pennsylvania. On a bet with his roommate, Nutwell hitched the 200-plus miles to the small town of Titusville, just over the state line, and brought new meaning to the phrase “fake it til you make it.”

He slept in cars. He networked. He shook hands. He made friends.

And then he made history.

Six months later, he founded Nutwell Reserves, a perfectly-timed foray into a brand new industry that left him as one of the wealthiest men on the East Coast – but his mind was never far from his beloved river. After selling the company, Nutwell bought entire plots of land that lined the banks where he’d once skipped stones and went about constructing homes for his entire family, creating a history both deep and rich for all who came after him.

What he didn’t do was prepare it for change.

Once a thriving tributary for commerce and new business, the river now serves as welcome relief on a hot day, or a commonly known backdrop for wedding or graduation pictures.

The homes stand as they’d been built – many listed in the National Register of Historic Places – and are classic representations of influence that characterized the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

But those inside – known now as “the haves” of Middle Valley – were decidedly different. Many are descended directly from Nutwell, himself, and bear a sense of ownership over the legacy of Middle Valley.

Others, though, do not. They brought new money to town – and they aren’t afraid to spend it.

Of course, there are the “have-nots” as well. They live just about everywhere else. And the fact is that, in a village of three square miles, there just isn’t very far to go …