Town residents and local officials showed up in force Thursday to dedicate a new historic marker that celebrates the founding of a small Erie Canal village that went on to become the modern town of Pendleton.

The blue and yellow historic marker was placed near the site of Pendleton founder Sylvester Pendleton Clark’s first log building at the Erie Canal portage he founded in 1821. Gaining the historic marker represents an important milestone as the town heads into its bicentennial era.

The marker, the product of research by late Town Historian Ben Sobczyk, was obtained partly through legislative efforts by Niagara County Legislator Tony Nemi, R-Lockport and Pendleton.