Bradford County
Towanda, Bradford County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
Formed on February 21, 1810 from Lycoming and Luzerne counties. Named Ontario County until 1812; renamed for the second U.S. Attorney General, William Bradford. County seat of Towanda was incorporated 1828. Famous for Sullivan's March and David Wilmot.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
Formed in 1810 and first called Ontario County, this region was renamed in 1812 for William Bradford, the second U.S. Attorney General. Its seat, Towanda, was incorporated in 1828 along the Susquehanna. The county remembers Sullivan's March—the 1779 Revolutionary campaign against the Iroquois that passed through the valley—and native son David Wilmot, whose 1846 Proviso to bar slavery from new territories helped ignite the national crisis over slavery.
Why it matters
From a Revolutionary War expedition against the Iroquois to the antislavery politics of David Wilmot, this quiet valley touched two of the great struggles that defined the American nation.
Plan your visit
NearbyMake a day of it — museums, food, and places to stay near this marker.
Museums & culture
- Tioga Point Museum13.3 mi away
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Related people
- · William Bradford
- · David Wilmot
Related events
- · Sullivan Expedition
- · Wilmot Proviso
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Sullivan's March
Standing Stone Township, PA · est. 1947
As General John Sullivan's Continental army marched north against the Six Nations in August 1779, it made its sixth camp on the river lowlands near here on the nights of August 8-9. The stopping places along the Susquehanna traced the slow, deliberate advance of a major Revolutionary War expedition ordered by Washington. From Wyoming to Fort Sullivan, each riverside campsite marked another day's push into Iroquois country.
Sullivan's March
Ulster Township, PA · est. 1949
In August 1779, General John Sullivan led a Continental Army expedition up the Susquehanna Valley, camping on the Sheshequin Flats below this point on the ninth and tenth before pressing on to Tioga Point. This was the seventh and final overnight stop of a hard march into Iroquois country. Sullivan's campaign, ordered by George Washington, aimed to break the power of the Six Nations who had allied with the British on the frontier.
Lime Hill Battlefield - PLAQUE
Wyalusing Township, PA · est. 1928
On April 14, 1782, near this spot, Sergeant Thomas Baldwin's party tried to overtake a Native war band that had captured Mrs. Rosewell Franklin and her four children. After some four hours of fighting from hastily thrown-up breastworks, the rescuers freed three of the children, but Mrs. Franklin was killed. The skirmish was one of the last violent episodes of the Revolutionary frontier in the Wyoming country.
Joseph Elliot - PLAQUE
Wyalusing Township, PA · est. 1928
This marker honors Joseph Elliot, a Revolutionary War soldier of the embattled Wyoming Valley frontier. He fought at Trenton on the night of December 25, 1776, and by tradition was given a sword by George Washington for his bravery. He survived the Wyoming Massacre of 1778 — breaking free at the Bloody Rock and swimming the Susquehanna with a bullet in his shoulder — and later, at the 1782 Battle of Lime Hill, helped rescue captured children.