Proceeding on General Sullivan’s road, one crosses the Chemung (Tioga) River on a modern steel bridge and enters Athens, formerly Tioga Point; here was Fort Sullivan, base of supplies for the army; destroyed by themselves in October, 1779, on their departure for Wyoming; marked by boulder with bronze tablet, inscription: “In Sullivan’s expedition, the march that destroyed savagery and opened the Keystone and Empire States to civilization, four brigades, furnished by the States of Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, and New Hampshire, with Proctor’s Artillery, and Farr’s Riflemen took part; at Tioga Point, long the southern door of the Indian Confederacy, 5000 troops encamped; here stood Fort Sullivan, with four blockhouses, from August 11 to October 3, 1779; tablet erected by Tioga Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution.” Below the plate is embedded a ball from one of General Sullivan’s guns; the road separates here, one following the Susquehanna to Owego, the other following the Chemung to Elmira (Newtown), New York; near the latter road is the “Battlefield of Newtown,” where General Sullivan fought the Tories and Indians in 1779.
A soldiers’ monument is on the campus in front of the old Athens Academy, designed by McKim, Mead & White, New York; ground foundation twenty-five feet square, inclosed in granite curbing with polished globes at each corner; pedestal, eleven feet high, rising from the center, polished granite, on unpolished granite coping, surmounted by a bronze group, “The Protection of the Flag,” a barefoot drummer boy with a flag over his shoulder and a tall, fearless soldier, holding a musket which points to the ground, sculptor, George T. Brewster; inscription, in bronze letters, fitted to the face of the granite: “Pro patria et gloria. Erected to the memory of our soldiers who fought in defense of the flag”; presented by Joseph Whipple and Charlotte Snell Stickler. Spaulding Library and Museum, classic Renaissance with Ionic porch, open to the public, contains paintings, portraits, and relics. In 1688 a Spanish fort was near the present borough of Athens; population 4384.
Towanda, county seat, laid out in 1812; population 4269; courthouse native sandstone, classic Renaissance, built in 1897; in front is the soldiers’ monument, at base are bronze tablets inscribed with names of battles of Bradford County men in war for the Union;
DEFENSE OF THE FLAG
McKim, Mead & White Pedestal George T. Brewster, Sculptor
Pickett’s charge at Gettysburg; and the battle scene at Antietam; dedicated in 1901. Towanda Free Library, French Renaissance, brick, built, 1897, was given and endowed by Francis R. Welles of Paris, France; architects, Barney & Chapman, New York; contains a special set of art books, “L’Art.”
In Christ Protestant Episcopal Church, native sandstone, is memorial window to William Ulysses Mercur, Chief Justice of Pennsylvania, 1882-87; makers, Cox Sons & Buckley, London. The Methodist Episcopal Church, also, has memorial windows. Historical Society of Bradford County, fireproof building open to the public; contains Indian and Civil War relics, curios, and portraits of pioneer men and women, a reproduction of a pioneer log house, and specimens of all native woods in the county. In Riverside Cemetery is the grave of David Wilmot, who made the famous proviso, engraved on his monument, against slavery. There are many borough and township high schools in Bradford County.
