From agriculture to the world's first oil well

Pogórzanie had been successfully developing the local economy for centuries. Initially, they specialized in agriculture and weaving. As Wincenty Pol wrote, "agriculture is of a higher degree here, and weaving is a vocation and mainly a household occupation of the family". In the fields of Pogórzany, one could see areas of rye, wheat, oats and barley that were cultivated with hand-made wooden plows, bar harrows and sickles. In home gardens, broad beans, cabbage, peas, beans, and also potatoes were grown from the 19th century. Cattle were also breed on traditional farms. The crops included flax and fibrous hemp, as they were used to make linen canvases famous in the region.

Initially, the Pogórzans were weaving during non-agricultural times (most often in winter) in order to sew clothes for themselves and obtain additional income. It must be remembered that home weaving required a lot of time, attention and dedication, and each family had its own weaving secrets and techniques (they were spun, woven and bleached differently). With time, Pogórzans began to specialize in the production of linen products, which they traded from Congress Poland to the areas of Transcarpathia and Hungary. In the Carpathian Foothills, the greatest number of weavers were in the vicinity of Krosno - Korczyn, Kombornia, Odrzykoń, Krościenko Wyżne, Niżny and Iwonicz. Korczyna remained the main weaving center, with 1,200 weaving workshops at the end of the 19th century, employing up to 3,000 people.

The development of the oil industry was a huge economic and social leap for the Pogórzans. It was here, in the Jasło village of Bóbrka, and not in Texas or the Arab Emirates, that the first oil mine was established. It was here that, in 1854, Ignacy Łuksiewicz and Tytus Trzecieski gave the whole world the driving force of the modern economy. For the inhabitants of the Pogórzans and the inhabitants of the surrounding villages, the development of the oil industry meant new employment opportunities - they became excellent drillers, whose fame extended beyond Galicia. This unexpected economic boom in the region, on the one hand, raised the standard of living of local residents and made it famous all over the world, and on the other hand - caused the disappearance of folk traditions and culture.