Pat McGee was an area legislator of Cattaraugus County who lived in Franklinville, New York, [1] and the trail was named in her memory.
The closure of the Cattaraugus Cutlery Company in 1963 and a factory that had most recently been used by King Windows in the 1980s (now used by Ellicottville Brewing Company) rendered the railroad of little use to Little Valley, and in 1990 the New York and Lake Erie truncated the rail service to Setterstix in Cattaraugus, before eventually discontinuing service on the entire fork by the 2010s.
[2] The Cattaraugus Local Development Corporation (CLDC) acquired the railbed several years after the railroad's closure and removed the rails and ties.
In March 2021, the CLDC entered negotiations to sell the trail to the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.
[1][5][6] The trail parallels New York State Route 353 and, in its southern half, the Little Valley Creek.