×

Happy birthday

County celebrates bicentennial

Times Observer photo by Lorri Drumm A celebration of Warren County’s Bicentennial was held Saturday at the courthouse. The Youngsville High School Marching Band performs The National Anthem at the event.

A person who is 100 years old is called a centenarian. If we could live to be 200, it seems logical we would be deemed a bicentenarian.

If we could live that long, it also seems reasonable to imagine a celebration filled with 200 years of history. Such was the case on Saturday for Warren County’s bicentennial.

Each speaker at Saturday’s event spoke of the history and origins of the county.

Warren County Commissioner Jeff Eggleston was the first to mark the “milestone” event with mention of Revolutionary War hero Gen. Joseph Warren, the city and county’s namesake, who was killed in the Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775.

Michelle Gray, director of the Warren County Historical Society, told those gathered about a new historical marker the county is receiving thanks to approval from the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission.

Times Observer photo by Lorri Drumm A celebration of Warren County’s Bicentennial was held Saturday at the courthouse. Warren County Commissioner Jeff Eggleston addresses those in attendance at the event.

Gray told the crowd some of the history of one of Sugar Grove’s earliest residents — Cynthia Catlin Miller (1791-1883). Miller was active in the abolitionist movements. She worked with the Ladies Fugitive Aid Society to sew and make clothes for runaway slaves. At her home in Sugar Grove, she entertained famed anti-slavery leader Frederick Douglass. The Miller Mansion became an important stop on the area’s Underground Railroad for escaping slaves making their way to Canada and freedom.

State Representative Kathy Rapp also spoke of the rich history and “many blessings” in the county, such as oil, timber, waterways, and people. Rapp offered her gratitude to the “regular, everyday folks who make this county what it is.”

President Judge Maureen Skerda called upon her area of expertise to tell the history of courts and judges in Warren County. She walked the crowd through a time when the first courthouse was built in the county in 1826 up to the present day.

City of Warren Mayor Maurice Cashman spoke of the history of municipalities throughout the county.

The celebration concluded with a benediction and burying of a time capsule.

Times Observer photo by Lorri Drumm A celebration of Warren County’s Bicentennial was held Saturday at the courthouse. The Conewango Clippers perform “America the Beautiful” at the event.

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

Starting at $4.62/week.

Subscribe Today