History
4
The area’s historical importance began with the Indians as a way-station called Canoe Place, where water transportation ended and a woodland trail led westward to the Alleghenies, a circumstance that probably brought the first white man here, a Frenchman. The French claimed the inland territory by friendly possession, while the English controlled the coastal territory by conquest. The land granted to William Penn and marked by the Purchase of 1768 was identified by a large wild black cherry tree that served as the corner boundary for Cambria, Clearfield, and Indiana counties. In 1891, Vincent Tonkin began work on a monument honoring Penn’s purchase from the Indians, and it was approved in 1893. Robert Tonkin, J.R. Caldwell, and Harry Byers assisted chief surveyor Harry Scanlin in locating the true site of the cherry tree. E.R. Carr and Company of Quincy, Massachusetts, designed the monument, and John Davis and Albert Daugherty of Cherry Tree built its sandstone foundation. It was unveiled on November 5, 1894, with Porter Kinport as master of ceremonies, Governor James A. Beaver present, and Maxie Elizabeth Tonkin uncovering it. Since 1914, the Cherry Tree Civic Club, formed by Mrs. Thomas Parry, has maintained the grounds.
Hear stories like this as you drive
ExploreHere reads historical markers out loud as you pass them: over 325,000 stories across the US. No account needed.
4.7 · 800+ ratings · Free
FIND IT
Cherry Tree, Pennsylvania · United States
