There is little recorded prior to 1824 about the discovery of Elk County, but there have been findings that the first families to call this area home were the Seneca Indians. There have been some artifact findings nearby and the Great Iroquois "Main Road" from Olean, New York to Kittanning, Pennsylvania crossed the Clarion River on the outskirts of what is now known as Ridgway, Pennsylvania.

There is also legend that the Indian Maid of the Blue Rock married General Slade in 1809, with Chief Tamaqua, a Seneca chief, performing the ceremony. The legend claims that they opened a trading post in Portland Mills, an area just outside of Ridgway, in the 1800s

Until 1824, there were no houses or streets, only thick forests and wild animals. Then, in the early 1800s, Jacob Ridgway, a wealthy man from Philadelphia, purchased 100,000 acres of land in Northwestern Pennsylvania; 40,000 of which were located in what is now Elk County.

In 1821, when he wanted to sell the land to settlers, he hired James Lyle Gillis to come here from Philadelphia to start a community. Mr.Gillis first cleared a spot of land on Montmorenci, intending to lure farmers to this area. He built a house and farm buildings there. He soon found however, the growing season for good farming on a large scale was too short and decided to move to what is now Ridgway, capitalizing on the abundance of timber and availability of natural water transportation.

The intersection of Elk Creek and the Clarion River was an ideal place for a lumbering town. He gradually convinced city people that there was much money to be made from the timber in the surrounding forests, which could also easily be floated down the Clarion River to market. Thus, Ridgway was born and named for the man who owned the land.

In 1833, the clearing was surveyed and a town site laid out. The lots extended north or south, and the majority were 65 feet wide and 160 feet long. The streets varied from 60 to 90 feet in width. Ridgway and Gillis, evidently with an eye to the future, reserved two acres in the center of the 
                               area from sale. This became the public square and is now occupied by the
                               Elk County Courthouse and County Jail.

If you would like more information related to the history of Ridgway and Elk County, contact the Elk County Historical Society at 814-776-1032 or elkctyhistoricalsociety@alltel.net. You can also visit them on the web at www.elkcountyhistoricalsociety.org.

You can also find more historical information at the Ridgway Heritage Council web site at www.ridgwayheritagecouncil.org.