At This Point Marker

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Near Westfield in Chautauqua County, New York — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)

At This Point

By Dale K. Benington, June 9, 2012

1. At This Point Marker

Inscription. The French Portage built by
Celoron in 1749 and rebuilt in 1753
descended the bank and crossed
Chautauqua Creek

Erected 1924 by the Patterson Chapter D.A.R.

Marker series. This marker is included in the Daughters of the American Revolution marker series.

Location. 42° 18.399′ N, 79° 34.72′ W. Marker is near Westfield, New York, in Chautauqua County. Marker is on Sherman-Westfield Road (County Route 74) south of Fort Street, on the left when traveling south. Click for map. This historic marker is a DAR marker that is affixed to a moderately sized boulder, that is located in a small grove of trees along the east side of the road. This grove of trees is situated between the north and south driveway entrances to some residential property. Marker is in this post office area: Westfield NY 14787, United States of America.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 6 miles of this marker, as the crow flies. The Old Portage Road (approx. half a mile away); a different marker also named The Old Portage Road (approx. half a mile away); The Lincoln-Bedell Statue Park (approx. 1.1 miles away); Barcelona Light House (approx. 2.5 miles away); The French & Indian War 1756-1763 (approx. 2.5 miles away); Land Office (approx. 5.2 miles away); Ellen Y. Miller (approx. 5.2 miles away); First Courts (approx. 5.2 miles away). Click for a list of all markers in Westfield.

By Dale K. Benington, June 9, 2012

2. At This Point Marker

View of the historic marker, affixed to the side of a moderately sized boulder.

More about this marker. This historic marker was difficult to locate, in fact I drove right by it several times. Part of the difficulty was that the boulder looked very similar to several other moderately sized boulders that lined the side of the road in the area between the two driveway entrances. Another difficulty was that this particular boulder was set back off the roadway a little bit deeper in the grove of trees than the other boulders. And a final difficulty was that the surrounding grass had grown tall enough to not completely hid, but to obscure the affixed marker on the side of the boulder.

All that being said, once you locate the grove of trees that is situated between the two driveway entrances to the residential property, the boulder with the marker affixed to it is at the southern end of the grove of trees, the closest boulder to the southern driveway entrance.

Regarding At This Point. For a long time I have been interested in locating whatever historic markers that I possibly could that where related to the early French exploration of this region, particularly the historic markers that were related to the Celoron expedition of 1749.

Years earlier (back in the days of not having online resources for the purposes of research) I had stopped by the Westfield area and unsuccessfully searched for historic markers related to the French activities in this region. So it was particularly gratifying that with the help of online searches and some assistance from Marybelle Beigh, the Westfield Historian, that I was finally able to located several markers related to this important French Portage that connected the Great Lakes water system to the Mississippi Valley water system.

By Dale K. Benington, June 9, 2012

3. At This Point Marker

View of the historic marker set back in the grove of trees, near the southern driveway entrance to a residential property.

By Dale K. Benington, June 9, 2012

4. At This Point Marker

Although the historic marker cannot be seen, it is located just to the right of the "Village of Westfield" road sign, behind the bush.

By Dale K. Benington, June 9, 2012

5. At This Point Marker

View looking north along Sherman-Westfield Road from the south residential driveway entrance. The historic marker is not seen, but is located just to the right of the road sign, behind the bush.

Credits. This page originally submitted on July 5, 2012, by Dale K. Benington of Toledo, Ohio. This page has been viewed 160 times since then. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on July 6, 2012, by Dale K. Benington of Toledo, Ohio.