ALTOONA
Altoona owes its existence to the Pennsylvania Railroad. In 1849, David Robeson owned a farm of 220 acres located in what is now the heart of downtown Altoona. He had built a log home near the site where Heritage Plaza now stands. To the southwest of Robeson’s farm was land owned by William Loudon and, to the northeast, a farm was owned by Andrew Green.
The story is often told that when the railroad company became interested in purchasing the land, a Mr. Cadwallader arrived from Philadelphia to acquire the Robeson farm. He represented Archibald Write, Esquire. When Cadwallader arrived at the Robeson home, Robeson was engaged in butchering hogs. Summoning her husband for the negotiations, Mrs. Robeson found a letter which had been dropped by Cadwallader. The purchasing agent, not noticing that he had dropped the letter, offered Mr. Robeson $6,000 for the property. In the meantime, Mrs. Robeson, not immediately knowing the source of the paperwork, examined the correspondence. She discovered that the price offered for the farm was mentioned in the letter as the sum of $10,000. She communicated this information to her husband and the price offered was immediately improved to the maximum amount allotted.
The rapid growth and development of the city can be attributed to the expanding interest of the railroad. Since the land lay at the base of the Allegheny Mountains and was at the end of the line in the earliest days, repair shops had to be built for cars and locomotives. The first trains in the area had to be taken to Duncansville, hooked onto the Portage railroad, and hauled over the mountain by that means. The first cars to take this journey traversed the landscape on September 17, 1850. This proved a tedious procedure. Engineering for the tracks over the mountain caused many problems. The elevation at the Robeson farm was 1,174 feet above sea level and an additional 984 feet were needed to reach the top of the Allegheny Mountains. Thus, the World Famous Horseshoe Curve and the Gallitzin tunnels were laid out and opened in 1854, eliminating the trek to Duncansville and the use of the old Portage Railroad.
The town was laid out in lots and streets were named for the wives or sweethearts of the civil engineers: Emma, Virginia, Harriet, Adeline, Helen, Rebecca, Annie, Julia and Caroline. Due to some comical stories which derived from these avenue titles, the names were later changed to the numerical designations they have today.
The new village received the name of Altoona, which purportedly derives from a Cherokee word meaning “high land of great worth.” While the railroad remained the dominant industry, smaller industries grew to provide services to the railroad and residents of the community. Long before the coming of the railroad, the iron industry had flourished at the Allegheny Furnace. Elias Baker and his nephew, Roland Diller, had purchased the furnace in 1835 from the firm of Allison and Henderson, who had built the furnace in 1811 and abandoned it in 1818.
Reconstruction of the furnace was necessary, and a village of furnace workers, iron ore miners, colliers, draymen, farmers, and construction workers sprung up. Baker soon felt he had sufficient means to erect a home “second to none in Pennsylvania and twice as good as any for the price.” A Greek Revival architectural home was erected and proudly stands today as a museum and home of the Blair County Historical Society.
As the city grew, a rolling mill, a silk mill, an ice plant, factories, harness and saddle shops, feed mills, and retail shops emerged. Persons with talents in other fields were imported from other areas to work for the railroad. Entertainment and recreation facilities were set up by the company. Several railroad bands were formed. A railroad YMCA and a Mechanics Library were built and staffed. The likes of the Mishler Theatre and an array of other amusements were opened to cater to an increasingly cosmopolitan clientele.
A grand hotel known as the Logan House was constructed in the area of the Robeson Farm by the Pennsylvania Railroad to accommodate travelers on their journeys from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh. The establishment had 102 rooms, two large parlors, and an excellent dining room. It was suggested by many that the food was the finest in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the ice cream served was the best that money could buy.
A substantial number of the young men of Altoona were engaged in the military during the early years of the railroad in Altoona. By late summer of 1862, the cause of the United States during the Civil War seemed to ebb, causing much concern in the mind of Pennsylvania governor Andrew Curtin. He therefore invited the governors of various northern states to a conference at the Logan House to unite the war effort and chart a course of loyalty to President Abraham Lincoln. The meeting resulted in a declaration of support for the national cause, its troops, and the recently announced Emancipation Proclamation. In 1912, for the 50th anniversary of the conference, the Pennsylvania Railroad held a massive jubilee in which 100,000 people commemorated the event.
By 1924, the population of Altoona was estimated at sixty-seven thousand persons, and, by 1944, the population had reached 82,000. During World War II, the military moved many troop trains and equipment by way of the Pennsylvania Railroad through the area. A canteen was opened near the Altoona station to serve refreshments to service men and women passing through. So crucial was the railroad hub during the conflict that the city and Horseshoe Curve were unsuccessfully targeted by Nazi saboteurs during Operation Pastorius in June 1942.
Following World War II, there was an employment program for returning service men and women known as “Jobs for Joes,” which was successful in placing former military personnel in the workplace. Later, a less successful program was implemented for a revitalization of the area’s business community after the decline of the railroad in the 1960s. Combined with the growth of suburban sprawl, the strategy obliterated the city’s historic district and forever altered the urban makeup of the city. Historic preservation in Altoona still remains an uphill struggle.
Perhaps the most successful entrepreneurial tale stemming from Blair County is that of Sheetz. The massive corporation began as one small deli on Fifth and Union Avenues. Purchasing the property from his father in 1952, Bob Sheetz sold hundreds of pounds of chipped ham weekly. Rapid growth forecasted the broader business empire to come. Today, the corporation stands out as one of the largest gas and convenience store franchises in the country.
Altoona celebrated its sesquicentennial in 1999 and looks to the future with the fresh successes of businesses and institutions such as Norfolk Southern, Penn State Altoona, and UPMC Altoona.
The story is often told that when the railroad company became interested in purchasing the land, a Mr. Cadwallader arrived from Philadelphia to acquire the Robeson farm. He represented Archibald Write, Esquire. When Cadwallader arrived at the Robeson home, Robeson was engaged in butchering hogs. Summoning her husband for the negotiations, Mrs. Robeson found a letter which had been dropped by Cadwallader. The purchasing agent, not noticing that he had dropped the letter, offered Mr. Robeson $6,000 for the property. In the meantime, Mrs. Robeson, not immediately knowing the source of the paperwork, examined the correspondence. She discovered that the price offered for the farm was mentioned in the letter as the sum of $10,000. She communicated this information to her husband and the price offered was immediately improved to the maximum amount allotted.
The rapid growth and development of the city can be attributed to the expanding interest of the railroad. Since the land lay at the base of the Allegheny Mountains and was at the end of the line in the earliest days, repair shops had to be built for cars and locomotives. The first trains in the area had to be taken to Duncansville, hooked onto the Portage railroad, and hauled over the mountain by that means. The first cars to take this journey traversed the landscape on September 17, 1850. This proved a tedious procedure. Engineering for the tracks over the mountain caused many problems. The elevation at the Robeson farm was 1,174 feet above sea level and an additional 984 feet were needed to reach the top of the Allegheny Mountains. Thus, the World Famous Horseshoe Curve and the Gallitzin tunnels were laid out and opened in 1854, eliminating the trek to Duncansville and the use of the old Portage Railroad.
The town was laid out in lots and streets were named for the wives or sweethearts of the civil engineers: Emma, Virginia, Harriet, Adeline, Helen, Rebecca, Annie, Julia and Caroline. Due to some comical stories which derived from these avenue titles, the names were later changed to the numerical designations they have today.
The new village received the name of Altoona, which purportedly derives from a Cherokee word meaning “high land of great worth.” While the railroad remained the dominant industry, smaller industries grew to provide services to the railroad and residents of the community. Long before the coming of the railroad, the iron industry had flourished at the Allegheny Furnace. Elias Baker and his nephew, Roland Diller, had purchased the furnace in 1835 from the firm of Allison and Henderson, who had built the furnace in 1811 and abandoned it in 1818.
Reconstruction of the furnace was necessary, and a village of furnace workers, iron ore miners, colliers, draymen, farmers, and construction workers sprung up. Baker soon felt he had sufficient means to erect a home “second to none in Pennsylvania and twice as good as any for the price.” A Greek Revival architectural home was erected and proudly stands today as a museum and home of the Blair County Historical Society.
As the city grew, a rolling mill, a silk mill, an ice plant, factories, harness and saddle shops, feed mills, and retail shops emerged. Persons with talents in other fields were imported from other areas to work for the railroad. Entertainment and recreation facilities were set up by the company. Several railroad bands were formed. A railroad YMCA and a Mechanics Library were built and staffed. The likes of the Mishler Theatre and an array of other amusements were opened to cater to an increasingly cosmopolitan clientele.
A grand hotel known as the Logan House was constructed in the area of the Robeson Farm by the Pennsylvania Railroad to accommodate travelers on their journeys from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh. The establishment had 102 rooms, two large parlors, and an excellent dining room. It was suggested by many that the food was the finest in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the ice cream served was the best that money could buy.
A substantial number of the young men of Altoona were engaged in the military during the early years of the railroad in Altoona. By late summer of 1862, the cause of the United States during the Civil War seemed to ebb, causing much concern in the mind of Pennsylvania governor Andrew Curtin. He therefore invited the governors of various northern states to a conference at the Logan House to unite the war effort and chart a course of loyalty to President Abraham Lincoln. The meeting resulted in a declaration of support for the national cause, its troops, and the recently announced Emancipation Proclamation. In 1912, for the 50th anniversary of the conference, the Pennsylvania Railroad held a massive jubilee in which 100,000 people commemorated the event.
By 1924, the population of Altoona was estimated at sixty-seven thousand persons, and, by 1944, the population had reached 82,000. During World War II, the military moved many troop trains and equipment by way of the Pennsylvania Railroad through the area. A canteen was opened near the Altoona station to serve refreshments to service men and women passing through. So crucial was the railroad hub during the conflict that the city and Horseshoe Curve were unsuccessfully targeted by Nazi saboteurs during Operation Pastorius in June 1942.
Following World War II, there was an employment program for returning service men and women known as “Jobs for Joes,” which was successful in placing former military personnel in the workplace. Later, a less successful program was implemented for a revitalization of the area’s business community after the decline of the railroad in the 1960s. Combined with the growth of suburban sprawl, the strategy obliterated the city’s historic district and forever altered the urban makeup of the city. Historic preservation in Altoona still remains an uphill struggle.
Perhaps the most successful entrepreneurial tale stemming from Blair County is that of Sheetz. The massive corporation began as one small deli on Fifth and Union Avenues. Purchasing the property from his father in 1952, Bob Sheetz sold hundreds of pounds of chipped ham weekly. Rapid growth forecasted the broader business empire to come. Today, the corporation stands out as one of the largest gas and convenience store franchises in the country.
Altoona celebrated its sesquicentennial in 1999 and looks to the future with the fresh successes of businesses and institutions such as Norfolk Southern, Penn State Altoona, and UPMC Altoona.
