Warren

Within the tapestry of Warren County history, the threads of conflict and community are woven. The early history of this area was often one of conflict, as Seneca, French, English, and later, Americans struggled for control of the land. In the nineteenth century, with the arrival of "settlers" from the new United States, came the creation of new communities. With these communities came houses, farms, schools, businesses, and industries. Many of these early features are still visible in the landscape today.

By the sixteenth century, the Seneca, members of the Iroquois Indian Nation, had controlled the area, which is now Warren County. In the eighteenth century, the most noted Seneca was the famous Cornplanter, the son of a Dutch trader from Albany and a Seneca mother. After fighting for the British during the Revolution, Cornplanter switched his allegiance and became a defender of the new American government, and an instrument in establishing treaties between the American government and the Iroquois Nation.

Despite the opposition of some of his contemporaries, Cornplanter warded off Indian incursions from the West. He was rewarded for his efforts with an outright gift by the Pennsylvania Commonwealth of several parcels of land, one of which---the Cornplanter Grant--became his home until he died in 1836. Until the waters of the Allegheny Reservoir flooded all but the highest portion of the Grant, Cornplanter heirs lived on their ancestral land.

The French, the first European Americans to deal with the Indians of the area, had traded annually with them before 1749. That year, Celeron de Blainville led an expedition sent by the government of New France to establish French sovereignty over the Ohio Valley, which was being threatened by increasing British incursions. Near the mouth of the Conewango Creek, on the south bank of the Allegheny, he buried a lead plate signifying this sovereignty.

During the ensuing years, after the French influence ended and the Revolution established American independence, men began to recognize the suitability of the land for permanent settlement. The fine bottomland at the confluence of the Conewango and the Allegheny was a natural location for a town, and extensive pine forest offered a seemingly inexhaustible timber supply.

In 1795, the town of Warren--named after distinguished patriot General Joseph Warren, who was killed in the battle of Bunker or Breed's Hill--was laid out by the Surveying team led by General William Irvine and Andrew Ellicott. Warren's first structure (until 1840) was a log building erected by the Holland Land Company as a supply depot. In about 1806, the first settlers began to locate in Warren, and the town was incorporated as a borough in 1832. With few exceptions, the earliest inhabitants of Warren were Scotch-Irish, from southeastern Pennsylvania, and New Englanders. Successive waves of immigrants arrived from Germany, Sweden, and Italy during the remaining years of the century. Their descendants are numerous.

The county, 902 square miles in area, was erected out of Lycoming and Allegheny Counties by an act of the legislature in 1800. In 1805, it was attached to Venango for judicial purposes, but in 1819, after a sufficient increase in population, it was organized as a full-fledged county. It is bordered on the north by New York State, on the east by McKean County, on the West by Crawford and Erie Counties, and on the south by Venango and Forest Counties.

Most of the land in the eastern and southern parts of the county is broken and hilly; the northwestern section is mainly glacial territory. Altitude ranges from 1200 to over 2000 feet above sea level. Originally, hardwood forest covered much of the western portion, while large stands of pine and hemlock grew in the creek alleys and southeast of the Allegheny River. The river and its three major tributaries in Warren County--the Conewango, Brokenstraw, and Kinzua Creeks--were natural waterways for the rafting of lumber, which was the county's primary industry for many years. Sawing and rafting of lumber became a significant activity late in the 1800s.

Before 1830, only the keelboat provided two-way river transportation from Pittsburgh. But beginning with the arrival of the steamer "Allegheny" in 1830, a succession of steamboats from Pittsburgh served as transportation until the early 1860s, just a few years after the Sunbury and Erie Railroad was completed from Erie to Warren. By 1883, Warren had the hub of a network of railroads leading in all directions.

As the rafting of lumber declined, and as the arable land was cleared of its timber, farming began to flourish, particularly in the northwest section of the county. In addition, the manufacture of furniture and other wood products expanded; the availability of hemlock bark led to the establishment of a large tanning operation in the Sheffield area; and the fabrication of products from iron began its steady climb.

Concurrent with he arrival of the railroad in Warren, oil was discovered at Titusville. In a short time, an oil boom developed in Warren County. It added yet another primary industry, and by the early 1900s, there were 13 refineries within a six-mile radius of Warren. Sensational oil finds occurred in numerous locations, including Tidioute, Cherry Grove, and Clarendon. Oil production and refining still hold an essential position in the county.

For many years, the town of Warren has been favored with a diversified industry; it has suffered less than many other localities during the depression. Those businesses in the county that have declined have been replaced by others that are more modern and comprehensive, and over the years, the trend has been toward light industry. Although farming has decreased in importance in the county, its status today is more stable than in many other parts of the state.

Warren is the locale of a forward-looking public school system with a high reputation. Many religious denominations are represented in the county, and an excellent county library and cultural community; it is also the center for a wide range of recreational facilities, including hunting, fishing, and boating. The headquarters of the Warren County Historical Society and the Clinton E. Wilder Museum are both extensive repositories for memorabilia of Warren County and its citizens.

Heart's Content and Tionesta Scenic Area are Pennsylvania's only appreciable stands of virgin timber. With their 300-year-old trees, they are breathtaking evidence of the splendor that greeted the settlers as they moved westward. These tracts are within the Allegheny National Forest, a large portion of which is included in Warren County and which provides vistas of beauty unequaled in any other part of the state. Chapman Dam State Park, a facility near Clarendon, offers opportunities for swimming, fishing, camping, and picnicking.

The construction of the Kinzua Dam and Allegheny Reservoir, a flood control project twelve miles above Warren, has been the impetus for a new and far-reaching promotional program for outdoor recreation. Campgrounds, boat-launching ramps, swimming areas, and scenic overlooks have been incorporated into the overall development of the reservoir shoreline, which extends into New York State nearly to the town of Salamanca.