Editing Smethport, Pennsylvania (section)

==History==
Smethport is situated in the [[Pennsylvania Wilds]] region, in a hilly area a short distance from the [[Allegheny National Forest]] and [[Kinzua Bridge State Park]]. Smethport is about two hours from [[Erie, Pennsylvania|Erie]] and [[Buffalo, New York|Buffalo]]. The highest point on [[U.S. Route 6]] east of the Mississippi River is near Smethport at Bush Hill.

Smethport was founded in 1807 by Dutch land investors who were surveying a large tract of land they purchased from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and was named in honor of a Dutch banking family, the De Smeths, who financed the land investments. The town's first business was a water-powered sawmill built by John Applebee in 1822. Smethport became the [[McKean County, Pennsylvania|McKean County]] seat in 1826 and was incorporated as a [[Borough (Pennsylvania)|Borough]] in 1853. The sawmill's artificial pond is now the centerpiece of Hamlin Park. Smethport has ties to General [[Thomas L. Kane]]{{citation needed|date=January 2013}} who organized the [[13th Pennsylvania Reserve Regiment|Bucktail Regiment]] during the Civil War; the borough is home to an active group of Bucktail re-enactors.

The borough has been the location of offices for several forest industry firms. From the 1870s to the early 1900s, Smethport was an important center for the East Coast hardwoods industry and enjoyed a timber-fueled economic boom that allowed the construction of many mansions that today make up a historic architectural district.

The first magnetic toys in the country were invented in Smethport in 1908. The [[Wooly Willy]] toy, a hit in the 1950s and still in production, was created in Smethport by Donald and James Herzog of the Smethport Specialty Company. In 2004 Smethport was selected as Pennsylvania's first Route 6 Heritage Community, as a part of a heritage tourism development program.