Long before white settlers arrived in southwestern Pennsylvania, what is now Brandt School Road had been part of an important north-south highway.

American Indians used the Kuskusky Path to travel between the forks of the Ohio and a large Indian settlement near modern New Castle.

"It was an animal path that became a major Indian trail," Doug MacGregor said. "It was used for communications between villages, for hunting, for trading and for diplomacy."

Mr. MacGregor, whose title is educator at the Fort Pitt Museum, will be keynote speaker Sunday at the dedication of a state historical marker describing the importance of the Kuskusky Path.

The marker, the first to be erected in Franklin Park, will be located near Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, 2500 Brandt School Road.

It's an appropriate location, according to borough historian Debby Rabold. "Trinity Lutheran held its first services in a log church very close to where the marker will stand," she said. The present red-brick church dates to 1868.

Mrs. Rabold led the effort to have the marker erected near the church. It is one of 43 approved this year by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.

Marker nominations are evaluated by panels of historians from around the state, according to program coordinator Karen Galle.

In order to qualify for a marker, a proposed site must demonstrate statewide or national importance, she said. There are about 2,200 markers across Pennsylvania.

The Kuskusky Path traveled through Allegheny, Butler and Lawrence counties on its way north to the cluster of Indian villages along the Beaver River.

Nineteenth-century maps of what was then Franklin Township show the route of the path, Mrs. Rabold said. It entered the community from McCandless along West Ingomar Road, then headed north along Brandt School Road. Appropriately, it becomes Mingo Road after its crosses Route 910 on the Marshall-Franklin Park boundary. Mingo is the name given to the Indians from several tribes who settled in the Ohio Country after being driven west.

Southwestern Pennsylvania was home to roaming bands of mostly Iroquois, Shawnee, Seneca and Delaware Indians until the last decade of the 18th century. The area remained unsafe for white settlement until American Indian warriors were defeated at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794.

Franklin Park has been called by many names during the last two and a half centuries.

The borough was once part of Pitt Township, which took in much of the North Hills. It later became part of larger Pine and Ohio townships. In 1823, its residents petitioned Allegheny County Court to form Franklin Township, which included what is now Marshall Township. Marshall broke away in 1863. The remaining wedge-shaped community took its current name in 1961.

When early settlers arrived at the turn of the 19th century, many built their cabins and churches near the Kuskusky Path, Mrs. Rabold said.

At least one log cabin remains, she said, although its exterior has been covered with aluminum siding.

"The land along those Indian paths was prime commercial real estate," Mr. MacGregor said. "They were often the first areas to see population growth and development."

That pattern of development was followed elsewhere in the region. Both the Forbes and Braddock expeditions followed Indian trails into Western Pennsylvania, he said. Braddock's Road became Route 40, while Route 30 roughly follows some of the same course that the army of Gen. John Forbes traveled on its march to drive the French from Fort Duquesne.

"What I like about the marker program is that markers raise historical awareness in the region -- history is not just something that happened in Philadelphia or Boston," he said.

Ms. Galle agreed. "I think the markers are especially important in smaller towns, where local people often don't realize that something of national significance happened here.

She pointed to a new one erected in October near the Erie Maritime Museum, honoring an Erie-born Antarctic explorer.

Eagle Scout Paul Allman Siple was picked to accompany Admiral Richard E. Byrd on his 1928-30 expedition to the Antarctic. In 1957 he returned to the region, leading the first team ever to spend the winter at the South Pole.

"Residents realize that a local person, someone from their home town, did something great," she said. "The markers are educational for travelers passing through who can learn something about the history of Pennsylvania, but they are more meaningful for local folks who can take pride in their history."