# 8 Carrying Path

County text and building entries by Richard J. Webster

“Tioga” (spelled “Teaoga” and “Diahoga” in the eighteenth century) is Iroquois for “gate,” derived from the Iroquois word “teyaogen,” meaning “in the middle or between two things.” It appears to have referred to Tioga Point, the spit of land at the confluence of the Chemung and Susquehanna rivers just south of present-day Athens, Bradford County. Tioga Point served as a primary gateway to the Six Nations, and outsiders passing through this area needed approval of the Iroquois. The county rests in the Allegheny Plateau with a mean elevation of 1,300 feet and has three principal waterways. The Cowanesque River runs eastward into the Tioga River, which flows along the county's east side and via the Chemung River into the North Branch Susquehanna River, and Pine Creek runs through the county's southwest quadrant.