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Historical Road Markers

Contributed by Betty Matteson Rhodes


Home > History > Historical Road Markers

 

Frequent contributor Betty Matteson Rhodes has provided the data below. It is a good representation of some of the historical road markers shown throughout the county. Has anyone has taken digital photos of any of these markers? Please contribute your pictures to the Warren County webmaster.


HISTORICAL MARKERS


Source: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission

Warren County was formed on March 12, 1800 from Allegheny and Lycoming counties, and named for Geneneral Joseph Warren who was killed at Bunker Hill. The city of Warren, the county seat, was laid out  in 1795. This county has long been known for its oil and timber operations and is the site of the Cornplanter Indian Grant. County Courthouse, 4th Ave. at Market St., Warren, Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania’s State Historical Marker Program highlights some of Pennsylvania’s history, and Warren county has its share of interesting history. The following is a collection of Highway Road Markers found in Warren County.

 

ROBERT HOUGHWOUT JACKSON (Route 426 & Eldred Hill, Spring Creek)

Name:
  Robert Houghwout Jackson
County:
  Warren
Date Dedicated:
  August 23, 1997
Marker Type:
  Roadside
Location:
  Route 426 & Eldred Hill, Spring Creek
Category:
  Government & Politics, Government & Politics 20th Century
Description and Marker text:
 

Lawyer & jurist. Chief U.S. prosecutor, Nuremberg war crimes trials in Germany after World War II. Associate Justice, U.S. Supreme Court, 1941-54; noted for his defense of civil liberties. Served in President Franklin D. Roosevelt's administration starting in 1934; U.S. Solicitor General, 1938-39, & Attorney General, 1940-41. Jackson was born on the family farm here in Spring Creek.



THE GRANDIN WELL (US 62, .4 mile S of Allegheny River bridge near Tidioute.)

Name:
  Grandin Well, The
County:
  Warren
Date Dedicated:
  July 15, 1959
Marker Type:
  Roadside
Location:
  U.S. 62, .4 mile S of Allegheny River Bridge near Tidioute
Category:
  Business & Industry, Oil
Description and Marker text:
 

At oil spring across river at this point J.L. Grandin began second well drilled specifically for oil, Aug., 1859, after Drake's success. It was dry, showing risks involved in oil drilling.


INDIAN PAINT HILL (US 62, 3 miles NE of Tidioute)

Name:
  Indian Paint Hill
County:
  Warren
Date Dedicated:
  October 23, 1947
Marker Type:
  Roadside
Location:
  U.S. 62, 3 miles NE of Tidioute
Category:
  Native American
Description and Marker text:
 

Across the river from here deposits of red ochre and adjacent petroleum springs provided the Indians with raw materials for face and body paint.


THOMPSON' S ISLAND (US 62, 9 miles SW of Warren)

Name:
  Thompson's Island
County:
  Warren
Date Dedicated:
  October 23, 1947
Marker Type:
  Roadside
Location:
  U.S. 62, 9 miles SW of Warren (MISSING)
Category:
  American Revolution, Military, Native American
Description and Marker text:
 

An advance party of Brodhead's expedition of 1779 into the Seneca country had a skirmish here with 30 or 40 Indians, the only fighting which took place in that campaign, and the only Revolutionary battle in northwestern Pennsylvania.


GEN. WILLIAM IRVINE (Old US 6 [SR 3022] W of US 62, Irvine)

Name:
  Gen. William Irvine
County:
  Warren
Date Dedicated:
  October 23, 1947
Marker Type:
  Roadside
Location:
  Old U.S. 6 [SR 3022] W of U.S. 62, Irvine
Category:
  Professions & Vocations
Description and Marker text:
 

Surveyed Donation Lands in this area in 1785. Later bought a large tract of land, developed by his son Callender and grandson, Dr. William Irvine. One of the tenant houses of the estate stands opposite.


BUCKALOONS (In Buckaloons Park near US 62 E of Irvine)

Name:
  Buckaloons
County:
  Warren
Date Dedicated:
  October 23, 1947
Marker Type:
  Roadside
Location:
  Buckaloons Park, near U.S. 62 E of Irvine
Category:
  Native American
Description and Marker text:
 

A famous Indian village at the junction of Brokenstraw Creek and the Allegheny, visited by Celoron in 1749 and destroyed by Brodhead in 1779. Burial mounds excavated here indicate the antiquity of this site.


CELORON'S EXPEDITON (Pennsylvania Ave [Business US 6] at Hickory Street, Warren)

Name:
  Celoron's Expedition
County:
  Warren
Date Dedicated:
  October 23, 1947
Marker Type:
  Roadside
Location:
  Pennsylvania Ave. (Business U.S. 6) at Hickory Street, Warren
Category:
  Exploration, Government & Politics, Government & Politics 18th Century
Description and Marker text:
 

In 1749 a French force under Celoron de Blainville entered the Ohio valley by way of Chautauqua Lake and Conewango Creek. A lead plate was buried at the mouth of the Conewango claiming the area for France.


CONEWANGO (Pennsylvania Ave. (Business US 6), Conewango Creek bridge, Warren)

Marker Name:
  Conewango
County:
  Warren
Date Dedicated:
  October 23, 1947
Marker Type:
  Roadside
Location:
  Pennsylvania Ave. (Business U.S. 6), Conewango Creek Bridge, Warren
Category:
  Early Settlement, Native American
Description and Marker text:
 

Mid-18th century Seneca village located on site of present Warren. First mentioned by Bonnecamps, in 1749, as composed of 12 or 13 cabins. Name in Iroquois means "below the riffles."


SENECA CROSSING (Intersection of Warren-Onoville Rd. (SR1013) & Eqypt Hollow Rd., Glade Twp)
Name:
  Seneca Crossing
County:
  Warren
Date Dedicated:
  November 3, 2007
Marker Type:
  Roadside
Location:
  Intersection of Warren-Onoville Rd. (SR1013) & Eqypt Hollow Rd., Glade Twp.
Category:
  American Revolution, Exploration, Native American, Paths & Trails, Transportation
Description and Marker text:
 

Native Americans, French explorers, and Revolutionary War soldiers all used this 8-mile cross-country portage to access the upper reaches of the Allegheny River from Conewango Creek. This historic trail provided travelers with a preferable alternative to the arduous 26-mile upriver trip to the heart of the Seneca Nation. Several lower branches of Seneca Crossing converged near here, the trail's mid-point. The route continued to Kinzua.


WARREN, PA (County Courthouse, 4th Ave. at Market St., Warren)
Name:
  Warren County
County:
  Warren
Date Dedicated:
  March 12, 1981
Marker Type:
  City
Location:
  County Courthouse, 4th Ave. at Market St., Warren
Category:
  Government & Politics, Government & Politics 19th Century
Description and Marker text:
 

Formed March 12, 1800 from Allegheny and Lycoming counties. Named for Gen. Joseph Warren, killed at Bunker Hill. Warren, the county seat, was laid out in 1795. Long known for its oil and timber operations, and site of the Cornplanter Indian Grant.



The Cornplanter Indian Grant:
Chief Cornplanter
"Pennsylvania's one surviving Indian community lived until 1964 on the Cornplanter Tract in Warren County, northwest Pennsylvania. In that year the newly constructed Kinzua Dam was shut, flooding the Allegheny Reservoir and submerging the community's physical remains.

The Cornplanter Tract was not an Indian reservation, it was a grant of land made in 1791 to Cornplanter, a chief of the Seneca Nation, and to his heirs by the Pennsylvania General Assembly. Through this gift, the government of Pennsylvania expressed its gratitude to Cornplanter for his Indian diplomacy in the early years of American independence.

Cornplanter's people knew him as Kaintwakon, meaning "by what one plants." The white people knew him also as John Abeel (rendered also as Obail) and by other names. He was born to his Seneca Indian mother about 1750 at Ganawagus, near Avon, New York. The Wolf Clan to which she belonged was a ranking Indian family. Among its members were several prominent Indian leaders, Kiasutha, Handsome Lake, Red Jacket, and Governor Blacksnake, all principals in the drama of Indian-white relations which spanned the remainder of the century after 1755. Ultimately, this drama would determine whether this country, especially that part west of the Allegheny Mountains, would be French or English, European or Indian. Chief Cornplanter died in Warren County, Pennsylvania, in 1836. He requested a grave with no marker. A monument has been constructed over his grave."

 

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