Venango Path. A major Indian path between the Forks of the Ohio (now Pittsburgh) and the Seneca town of Venango (now Franklin) passed through here. On Dec. 27, 1753, George Washington came this way with frontier scout Christopher Gist as they returned from Fort LeBoeuf on a mission for Virginia''s Gov. Robert Dinwiddie. The Franklin Road, the first wagon road northward from Pittsburgh, was opened over this route in 1796.