Pennsylvania, McKean County, near Shinglehouse
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One mile south of here the first permanent white settlement in present McKean County was made in 1798 by Francis King, agent and surveyor for the John Keating land company of Philadelphia.
(Settlements & Settlers) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.
One mile south of here the first permanent white settlement in present McKean County was made in 1798 by Francis King, agent and surveyor for the John Keating land company of Philadelphia.(Settlements & Settlers) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.
This was the westernmost point of the survey of the Virginia-North Carolina border run in 1728 by a joint commission from both colonies led by Col. William Byrd II of Westover. The exact end of the line was marked on October 26, 1728, by a blazed Red Oak tree on the east bank of Peter’s Creek.
At the end of 1824, Alachua County was organized as a political unit of the new Territory of Florida. The
Seminole inhabitants of the Alachua region had recently been ordered to a reservation, and land was
available there for white settlers. Early in 1826, a post office was established in this area called "Dell's
P.O." It derived its name from the Dell brothers, who had first visited the Alachua region during the
"Patriot War" (1812-14) and had later returned to settle there. In 1828, the settlement near Dell's P.O. was
officially made the Alachua County seat and named "Newnansville" in honor of a Patriot War hero, Daniel
Newnan. Newnansville became the junction of several important trails through frontier Florida. This
marker stands on the site of the Bellamy Road, a cross-Florida route authorized by Congress in 1824 as
the first federal road in the new territory. During the Second Seminole War (1835-42), hundreds of
displaced refugee settlers were sheltered at Newnansville and also at Ft. Gilleland, a nearby military post
built in 1836.
Formed on June 21, 1839 out of Lycoming and Centre counties. Named probably for New York's Gov. DeWitt Clinton. Site of "Tiadaghton Declaration of Independence," 1776. In 19th century a lumbering center. Lock Haven, the county seat, became a city in 1870.
Governor of Pennsylvania, 1895-1899; born, 1849, on a farm 4.5 miles southeast of here. During his term, the State Department of Agriculture was created and the present State Capitol planned. Lived most of his life in Bellefonte. Died there in 1903.
William Reed's stockaded house was the westernmost defense for Susquehanna Valley settlers. The site of the pioneer outpost is a few blocks ahead at the monument near the bridge.
By the Indian path along Bald Eagle Creek, in 1772, Bishop Ettwein, Moravian, brought some 200 Christian Mohicans and Delawares from Friedenshuetten, near Wyalusing, to Friedensstadt on the Beaver.
Against expert advice, Dorcie Calhoun drilled Leidy Township's first successful deep gas well about a quartermile south of here. On January 8, 1950, the well hit natural gas at a depth of 5,659 feet, and for a time it brought up an estimated 15 million cubic feet per day. This news attracted national attention, and within months more than 30 companies and independents were drilling here before production ceased.
Named by the founder Jerry Church for this old canal lock built by the state of Pennsylvania 1834 the haven for rafts created by the dam.
On this site stood the original building of Pine Creek Presbyterian Church organized 1792
In memory of Simeon Pfoutz and wife Susannah, first white settlers on Kettle Creek. He selected this site in 1813, cleared the land, built a log house, went to Perry Co. for his wife, two year old son Simon, and returned in 1814 to spend the rest of their days. They reared nine children. The cemetery where several members were buried was a short distance up stream along the north shore. Simeon died from a bite of a rattlesnake he was handling.
Many Indian nations have occupied the Great Island in the river just south of here. Trails led from the Genesee, Ohio, Potomac, and Susquehanna North Branch. Delawares and Shawnees stopped here for a time on their migration west.
Under this huge Elm, July 4, 1776, resolves declaring independence were drawn, prior to news of action by Congress at Philadelphia. This was an expression of the spirit common to the frontier and led by the famous Fair Play men.
This ancient fording place, the "Crossing of the Sioux," was on the heavily traveled trail from St. Paul and Fort Snelling to the upper Minnesota and Red River valleys.
This property was deeded in 1825 by Abraham Witmer to A.B. Reed, a descendent of an early Clearfield settler, making it one of the county's earliest recorded property transactions. According to an early map of the borough, the lot was owned by William Bigler who served as governor of Pennsylvania 1852-1855, and US senator 1856-1861, to date, the only Clearfield County resident to serve as governor of Pennsylvania. The present building was constructed in the 1880s by Governor Bigler's son William Dock Bigler.
Clearfield County, formed March 26, 1804, was named for the clear fields found by early travelers. The first courthouse, in use for 46 years, was built circa 1814. The cornerstone for the second present courthouse was laid June 04, 1860, and finished in 1862 during the Civil War. It was constructed on the same site using materials from the first courthouse. As the oldest public building in Clearfield and the center of all county government business, it is an important historic structure.
Formed March 26, 1804 out of Huntingdon and Lycoming counties. Clear fields, found by early travelers, gave rise to the name. County was important for logging and rafting on the West Branch, 1850-1901. The county seat, Clearfield, was incorporated 1840.
The first county jail, c1820-1841 was a log structure, one of the oldest buildings in town. The jail is contained in the dwelling at 105 S. Second St. The second jail, 1841-1872, was a stone structure built on Market St., directly behind the courthouse. The county's first hanging occurred there. The third jail, a large, walled, stone prison, was built at the north end of Second St., 1872-1983.
