Visit / PA Historical Marker Trail

Warren County

Warren County

Quick Story

Warren County’s forests, rivers, and hardworking communities played an important role in Pennsylvania’s lumber era. Timber harvested throughout the county traveled along the Allegheny River, helping support local economies and contributing to the growth of the state’s forest products industry. Today, its historic sites and natural landscapes continue to preserve that legacy.

Why This Marker Is Significant

Warren County’s historical markers preserve the stories of the people, industries, and waterways that helped shape the region’s history. They connect visitors to the county’s rich lumber heritage while highlighting the communities and events that continue to define its character.

Then and Now

Historic Picture of the town of Warren
Historical photograph
Warren County
Current marker photograph

Stop #1 – Cynthia Catlin Miller (1791-1883)

Prominent antislavery leader from an abolitionist family, she founded the Female Assisting Society and the Ladies’ Fugitive Aid Society. Her home here, the Miller Mansion, was a refuge for freedom seekers on the Underground Railroad, and her organizations provided them with food and clothing. She and her son Franklin hosted Frederick Douglass and other abolitionists when they came to speak at the Sugar Grove Convention of 1854.

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Discovering Lumber Hertitage Through History and Education

Stop #2 – Seneca Crossing

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.

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Discovering Lumber Hertitage Through History and Education

Stop #3 – Conewango

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.”

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Discovering Lumber Hertitage Through History and Education

Stop #4 – Warren County

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.

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Discovering Lumber Hertitage Through History and Education

Stop #5 – Celeron’s Expedition

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.

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Discovering Lumber Hertitage Through History and Education

Stop #6 – Mead Island Tradition

Near this location the Mead Island culture was first identified In 1967 by Carnegie Museum Archaeologist Dr. Stanley Lantz on Mead Island. Further excavations of this prehistoric Native American group nearby at the nearby Penelec site and other locations between here and Freeport in Armstrong county verify that these people were the dominant residents of the Middle Allegheny River Valley during the early Late Woodland period (960-1360 AD).

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Discovering Lumber Hertitage Through History and Education

Stop #7 – Gen. William Irvine

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.

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Discovering Lumber Hertitage Through History and Education

Stop #8 – Buckaloons

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.

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Discovering Lumber Hertitage Through History and Education

Stop #9 – Thompson’s Island

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.

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Discovering Lumber Hertitage Through History and Education

Stop #10 – Indian Paint Hill

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

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Discovering Lumber Hertitage Through History and Education

Stop #11 – The Grandin Well

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.

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Discovering Lumber Hertitage Through History and Education

Stop #12 – Robert Houghwout Jackson (1892-1954)

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.

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Discovering Lumber Hertitage Through History and Education

Stop #13 – Pennsylvania

Founded 1681 by William Penn as a Quaker Commonwealth. Birthplace of THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE and THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES.

Stop #14 – Gyantwahia, The Cornplanter John O’Bail

In 1796, the United States granted Cornplanter, a Seneca Chief and diplomat, about 1,500 acres of former Seneca land in Pennsylvania, known as the Cornplanter Tract, to be held by him and his heirs “forever.” In 1960, construction of the Kinzua Dam led to the flooding of this land, forcing remaining residents to relocate to the Allegany Reservation in New York. Before the flooding, Cornplanter’s remains, those of his descendants, and an 1866 monument were moved to higher ground.

Stop #15 – Kinzua

The mouth of this creek was a favored spot of the Seneca for spearing fish. Name is taken from the Iroquois word, genzo waa, literally, “fish up there,” and refers to a wooden fish stuck on top a pole.

Stop #16 – Sugar Run Mounds

Archaeological excavations immediately to the west of here, revealed three burial mounds, a village site and associated artifacts. The remains represent an outpost of the widespread Hopewellian peoples of the 12th and 13th centuries.

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