US Route 6

	PHOTOS:
		Bicentennial Wagon Train Business District Kids Walk Memorial Day Parade Route 6 Farm Route 6 Street Dance Shoppers Teens Church Timeless Home Toursit Reflects Support the Troops March Veterans Honored Veterans March

National Geographic Magazine labeled US Route 6 as “one of America’s most scenic drives”. The scenery near the Smethport section of the highway is majestic in its beauty. The highway bobs up and down through the foothills of the Allegheny Mountains, lending breathless views across wide valleys, and distant mountains.

Small, family owned farms nestled along the road give the motorist a glimpse of rural America that is long removed from the urban landscape. Sunsets touch the endless horizon ahead as the highway travels the Allegheny Plateau for a short way before dropping down into the next valley 2,000 feet below.

While the scenic value of Route 6 is quickly recognized as a special treasure, the historic highway is much more than scenery. It is the back bone of quaint little towns along its path. Smethport is one of those towns.

It’s the town’s gateway. Early town pioneers arrived through this path when it was the old East-West Road to build a town out of the primeval forest. In generations to follow, new babies entered town for the first time through the same portal to become new valued members of the community. High school graduates exit the same portal to go away to college, build a life, and return home to Smethport for a visit with family, a vacation, or a football game and brilliant autumn foliage during Smethport Area High School’s Annual Homecoming. Many use that same highway that they left by to return to Smethport to retire, or to build a new business.

Organ music can be heard in community churches built beside this highway. Weddings, baptisms, church services, and community meetings become part of the movement across the road leading through the heart of the town. Teens gather at the Catholic Church on Wednesday evenings during summer for “Teen Hang-Out Night”. Their laughter and vitality can be heard above the roar of tractor trailers shipping freight all across America.

People gather on the sidewalks along its route in the friendly business district for special occasions. World War II veterans line its sides during commemorative services for Memorial Day, or a troop support march for the hometown boys in Iraq. They march in festival parades along with the high school band, Brownies, Boy Scouts, firemen, kids drill teams, and local descendents of the Civil War “Bucktail” Regiment that formed in Smethport and gained fame on the battlefields of Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia..

Residents of the town walk along the highway for recreation, often stopping to visit each other, or wave their hand as a friend drives by and toots a hello. Tourists are often seen setting on the benches along its way to rest a spell between shopping at quant little shops, or to reflect on the wonders of small-town America.

Route 6 is an historic road. When it was the newly built East-West Road in the early 1800’s, mostly forest lined its sides. Later, as the towns along its route began to grow, small homes and log cabins became landmarks. Today, there are farms, factories, and mansions that give testimony to the “Gilded Era” of wealth that came with industry in the late 19th century.

With industry came the heavy sleds carried logs to the saw mills, which were soon replaced by the automobile, bringing even more prosperity to the little towns along its course. Town’s folk still shop in the business district along its avenue, just as they did 100 years ago. They still gather there for special events, like a street dance during Smethport’s Summerfest in 2005, just as they did for the 4th of July Parade in 1895.

The road, also known as The Grand Army of the Republic Highway in honor of Civil War Veterans, is much, much more than just a highway. It is the social, civil, historic thread that sews the people of Smethport together into a strong, friendly community rich in history, tradition, and hope for a bright future.

It is the road that brings a “Timeless Home” to Smethport.