The backwoods. backroads. backwaters. are rich in history and have deep roots in Pennsylvania heritage. From the Native Americans using the terrain for adequate housing to the melting pot we have become today. Clearfield County would like to share a piece of its past that is sure to lead you right to its present.
From the French Indian War to the Revolutionary War to the Civil War and beyond, the history of our country can be felt travelling the backroads and byways of Clearfield County.
Here are just some of the places and things you can see in Clearfield County, Pennsylvania:
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Daniel Ogden (1734-1819)
“A Revolutionary War Lieutenant from New York State, Daniel Ogden came to the Indian village of Chinklacamoose and its clear fields in 1797. He made friends with the Indians who helped him build a house near where Ogden Avenue now intersects Second Street. Daniel and his wife H. Eleanor Schoutien were the parents of nine children. Their descendants live in Clearfield and throughout the United States. Historian Thomas Lincoln Wall wrote: “Daniel Ogden was far and away the most valuable one to come to the county prior to 1800.” Daniel Ogden is recognized as the first white settler in Clearfield.”
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McGee’s Mills Covered Bridge
“Only remaining covered bridge over any branch of the Susquehanna River. Thomas McGee built this single-span Burr arch truss bridge in 1873 for $175 using hand hewed white pine timbers from the area. It was the last covered Bridge built in Clearfield County. Thousands of rafts floated under the bridge including the last raft in 1938. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. Renovated in 1994 after collapse from snow damage.”
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French and Indian War Expedition
“In 1756 a British exploratory force led by Captain John Hambright ventured up the West Branch of the Susquehanna River to Cinklacamoose near this site. They were on a mission to search for French forces and their Indian allies who were raiding British settlements to the East. This British force found only the abandoned burned village whereupon they returned east to Fort Augusta.”
Trout Stocking
“1968 – the Old Town Sportsman Association started trout stocking
1975 – the Old Town Sportsman Association started its annual fishing derby
1999 – the PA Fish and Boat Commission started stocking trout as part of its annual stocking program
2005 – the PA Fish and Boat Commission classified this point at the Hyde Bridge downriver through downtown Clearfield as the only approved trout water on the West Branch of the Susquehanna River” -
The Bell Site Dig
“From 1979-1985, Harry Matlack discovered 126 Late Woodland Indian graves with encampments dating from 1500 to 1650 at the old Grier Bell Farm near here. This site was a three-component village, home for at least three different groups, each building on the ruins of the preceding one. The first white child born in the county, Grier Bell (1799-1882) is buried on the family farm at the dig site.”
