The Triple Divide
Area watershed feeds 3 great rivers
Looking down on Planet Earth, at 78 degrees west of the Prime Meridian and 52 degrees north of the Equator, there is
a special place in Potter County, Pennsylvania called 'TheTriple Divide', which separates three large land masses in the northeastern
United States.
In the town of Allegany and at an altitude of 2,520 feet, there lies a relatively flat hill about 800 feet long and 400
feet wide known as the 'Watershed of the Nation', another name for the Triple Divide.
This hill marks the starting point of three tiny creeks - one drains waters west into the Allegheny River, another lets
gravity take it north into the Genesee River, and the third falls east into Pine Creek, which flows into the western branch
of the Susquehanna River.
Somewhere on this Appalachian mountain of the Allegheny Plateau is a specific point where, if one spilled a bucket
of water, some of the contents could eventually end up in New Orleans, some could reach Newfoundland, and some could touch
Norfolk, Virginia.
Native Americans used this strategic, geographical spot as a portage point between the three rivers. As a result,
the Triple Divide became a haven for canoe-builders, and the name 'Canoe Place' took root. Related stories of olden
days gone by are still told at Port Allegany's Canoe Place Inn.
