 The highest point on U.S. Route 6 east of the Mississippi River is near Smethport at Bush Hill.Smethport was founded in 1807 by Dutch land investors who were surveying a large tract of land they purchased from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and was named in honor of a Dutch banking family, the De Smeths, who financed the land investments.The town's first business was a water-powered sawmill built by John Applebee in 1822.