PRINTER'S NO. 1868
No. 297 Session of 2003
INTRODUCED BY CAUSER, BAKER, BASTIAN, BEBKO-JONES, BENNINGHOFF,
BOYD, BUNT, COLEMAN, CORRIGAN, CREIGHTON, CRUZ, DALEY, DALLY,
DeWEESE, DiGIROLAMO, DONATUCCI, D. EVANS, FABRIZIO,
FAIRCHILD, FICHTER, FORCIER, FREEMAN, GABIG, GEIST, GERGELY,
GINGRICH, GOODMAN, HARHAI, HARHART, HENNESSEY, HERSHEY, HESS,
HORSEY, HUTCHINSON, JAMES, JOSEPHS, LAUGHLIN, LEDERER, LEWIS,
LYNCH, MAJOR, MARKOSEK, MARSICO, McGILL, McILHATTAN,
McNAUGHTON, MELIO, NAILOR, PAYNE, PICKETT, PISTELLA, REED,
REICHLEY, ROBERTS, ROHRER, ROSS, RUBLEY, SATHER, SCHRODER,
SHANER, B. SMITH, STABACK, R. STEVENSON, T. STEVENSON, SURRA,
TANGRETTI, TIGUE, TRUE, WALKO, WILT, WOJNAROSKI AND
YOUNGBLOOD, JUNE 2, 2003
INTRODUCED AS NONCONTROVERSIAL RESOLUTION UNDER RULE 35,
JUNE 2, 2003
A RESOLUTION
1 Honoring the Borough of Smethport, county seat of McKean County,
2 on its 150th anniversary.
3 WHEREAS, McKean was one of 14 counties carved from the area
4 of northwestern Pennsylvania known as the "Last Purchase,"
5 bought from the Iroquois Indians at Fort Stanwix in 1734 for
6 $10,000; and
7 WHEREAS, With the purchase, the Commonwealth increased in
8 area by nearly one-third, and through legislation, land costs
9 were reduced to 13¢ an acre; and
10 WHEREAS, The land was then sold to seven individuals or
11 companies for development and settlement; and
12 WHEREAS, On March 4, 1807, the State Assembly passed a law
1 "making Smeth's port the seat of justice for McKean County"; and
2 WHEREAS, With this law both Keating and Holland Land
3 Companies submitted requests for the new county seat to be
4 located in their respective holdings; and
5 WHEREAS, In September 1807, because of a more liberal offer
6 by Keating, the area known as Smethport was selected as the
7 county seat by county trustees and later that same month,
8 Francis King arrived to survey town lots; and
9 WHEREAS, It was not until 1822 that Smethport became a
10 permanent settlement; and
11 WHEREAS, Early spellings of the name of the county seat
12 varied between "Smethport" and "Smithport"; and
13 WHEREAS, It is recorded that John Keating asked that the
14 settlement be called Smethport after the de Smeths, a well-known
15 banking house in Amsterdam which financed New World land
16 transactions; and
17 WHEREAS, On March 5, 1853, Smethport was incorporated as the
18 county seat; and
19 WHEREAS, Through an act of the State Legislature approved by
20 Governor William F. Johnston, Smethport was incorporated as a
21 borough on April 3, 1853; and
22 WHEREAS, The borough celebrated its centennial in June 1953;
23 and
24 WHEREAS, The military record of Smethport includes the
25 Bucktails, one of the first groups organized to defend the Union
26 in the Civil War; and
27 WHEREAS, Education in Smethport got its start in 1828 in a
28 frame house owned by Richard Chadwick; and
29 WHEREAS, State-regulated education came to Smethport on
30 January 19, 1829: "There shall be and hereby is established in
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1 the town of Smethport in the county of McKean an academy for the
2 education of youth in the useful arts, sciences, and literature
3 by the name and style of 'The Smethport Academy'"; and
4 WHEREAS, Smethport's government, like that of most small
5 communities, has a mayor and council consisting of seven persons
6 with one serving as president and one as vice president; and
7 WHEREAS, For the first time in the history of the borough
8 there are two women serving on the council; and
9 WHEREAS, In 1970 the population of Smethport increased to
10 1,883, an all-time high, and the population has since decreased
11 to 1,797; and
12 WHEREAS, Backus Company, Smethport Specialty and Honeywell
13 Corporation are the three manufacturers that make up a large
14 part of the economic structure and vitality of the community;
15 and
16 WHEREAS, The budget for 1990 was more than $1.6 million; and
17 WHEREAS, Property is assessed at 4.3 mills, with 3.4 mills
18 allocated to general government and .9 mill allocated to the
19 Smethport Public Library; and
20 WHEREAS, The borough has its own electric system, electric
21 power purchased from Pennsylvania Electric Company and
22 distributed to customers, which enables the borough to keep the
23 tax rate much lower than in most of the surrounding boroughs;
24 therefore be it
25 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives honor the Borough
26 of Smethport, county seat of McKean County, on its 150th
27 anniversary.
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