Allegheny River Headwaters Watershed Conservation Plan

Allegheny River Headwaters Conservation Plan
Chapter 5. Cultural Resources
transport timber to mills or markets. The Coudersport and Port Allegany Railroad was used to haul timber
from Ulysses to Coudersport before it was abandoned in 1970.
Railroads assisted in the delivery of mail and passengers, reducing travel time and resulting in
quicker services. The majority of the railroads throughout the region were used for hauling of goods, such
as the Smethport Line from the Larabee “Y,” which primarily hauled coal. The majority of rail lines
within the project area are located within the McKean County portion of the watershed. Most of the
railroad lines that existed throughout the area in 1895 have become part of the Western New York and
Pennsylvania Railroad, including McKean and Buffalo Railroad; Kendall and Eldred Railroad; and Olean,
Bradford, and Warren Railroad (Pennsylvania railroad stations past and present).
There were at least 13 train stations located within the Allegheny headwaters during the height of the
railroad industry. Stations were located in Bradford, Coryville, Coudersport, East Bradford, East
Smethport, Eldred, Keating Summit, Lewis Run, Mount Jewett, Ormsby, Port Allegany, Roulette, and
Smethport (Pennsylvania railroad stations past and present).
Education
Early in the settlement of the region, educating youth became an important task. The earliest known
school within the region was located in Ayers Hill. It was conducted as a subscription school during the
winter of 1816–1817, where a dozen students attended classes. Early students were primarily males who
attended during winter months when not needed in agricultural fields. Young females stayed at home to
help their mothers with housework, such as cooking, cleaning, and sewing.
As the population of the region increased, so did the need for additional schools to educate students.
Schools were established throughout different portions of the region, many being temporary and only
teaching the basics of reading, writing, spelling, and mathematics. The majority of the schools were
established during the 1830s and 1840s. This was due to the passing of the Common School Law in 1834.
The Law made it possible for anyone to attend classes at no cost regardless of age, sex, class, or race. By
1887, within the City of Bradford there were 31 schools educating 1,880 youth costing the City an
average of $1.03 per student.
Many of the first schools were one-room schoolhouses where students of all levels were educated in
one classroom. The first graded school in Potter County was established in Oswayo in 1866. However, by
1953 the majority of schools throughout Oswayo Township were closing and merging students into one
large school system—the Oswayo Valley School in Shinglehouse.
Origin of Names
The name “Allegheny” has several possible origins; most believe it came from the Lenape tribe of
Native Americans, and that it is translated as “fine river.” Others suggest that the name came from an old
Lenape legend about another nearby tribe known as “Allegewi,” who once resided along the river.
According to David Zeisberger, a Moravian missionary who lived among Native Americans, the entire
watershed is called the “Alligewinenk,” meaning “land into which they came from distant parts.”
However, the Moravian called the river “Alligewi Sipo,” from which European settlers made
“Alleghene.” The Six Nations called the river “O Hi Yo,” or Ohio most likely believing that the Ohio
River began in Potter County as opposed to where it begins today in Pittsburgh when the Allegheny and
Monongahela Rivers meet.
The name Oswayo could have come from two different Native American words; either “Os-wa-so”
meaning “many waters” or “O-sa-ayeah,” which means “pine forest.”
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