Visit / PA Historical Marker Trail
The railroad along Portage Creek follows the course of an Indian path connecting heads of navigation, known as “Canoe Places,” on the Sinnemahoning and the Allegheny at present Emporium Junction and Port Allegheny.
During WWII, produced critical electrical components including vacuum tubes for proximity fuzes, a key military device that improved the precision of artillery shells. Founded in 1907, the workforce was composed of primarily women, prompting Colliers to call Emporium “Girls Town USA.” The former Sylvania Club here was the home of one of the company’s original investors, lumber baron Henry Auchu. The factory operated on Poplar St. until 1990.
Formed March 29, 1860 from Clinton, McKean, Potter and Elk counties. Named for Sen. Simon Cameron. County seat, Emporium, was incorporated 1864. Lumbering was of early importance, and flagstone at Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was later quarried here.
The 23-mile crossing from Susquehanna West Branch to the Allegheny River began at a “canoe place” near this point. Indians and pioneers went north to Portage Creek, and at present Port Alleghany resumed travel by canoe.
An Indian path ran up the valley of the Sinnemahoning Creek to Canoe Place, now Emporium Junction, and on to the Seneca villages at the Big Bend of the Allegheny. Early settlers in Clinton, McKean, Cameron, and Potter Counties used this path.
The famous cowboy star of cinema and circus was born here, January 6, 1880. A soldier during the Spanish-American War, he won renown for his “wild west” roles in hundreds of motion pictures – both silent and sound – between 1910 and 1935. Tom Mix died in an auto accident in Arizona on October 12, 1940.
Famed Civil War volunteers departed from this point for Harrisburg, April 1861, where they were mustered into State service. A monument, erected in their honor, is just south of here. This highway and a State park are named for the Bucktails.
One of the earliest Indian paths through the Allegheny Mts. followed this valley. It connected the Upper Allegheny River with the Susquehanna. In 17th century the Senecas used it in war against the Susquehannocks.
Seven teenage Civilian Conservation Corps enrollees and a forestry foreman lost their lives attempting to extinguish a 134-acre wildfire here. The crew had insufficient experience and training and were exhausted from fighting a previous fire. The Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center incorporated these tragic events into a case study for training fire-fighters nationwide. This ongoing training has saved many lives.
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