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TYRONE OF
TO DAY.
Gc 974.802 T98W 1981151
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 02221 4685
GENEALOGY 974.802 T98W
GREENSBURG
BOROUGH
OAK
ADAMS
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TWENTIETH
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COLUMBIA
AVE.
TWENTY-FIRST
ST.
LINCOLN
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TWENTY-FIFTH
TWENTY- SIXTH
MAP OF
RONE, PA.
AND VICINITY SCALE 200ET = 1 INCH Surveyed and Drawn by
J. LUDEN HENRY
TWENTY-THIRD
TWENTY-FOURTH
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TWENTY-SECOND
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CAMERON
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WASHI
LINCOLN AVE.
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LITTLE
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LOGAN
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PENNSYLVANIA
FOURTEENTH
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BALD EAGLE
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VICINITY
SCALE 200CY - 1 INCH Surveyed ® Drawn by J LUDEN HENRY
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JUNIATA
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TYRONE, PA.
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Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016
https://archive.org/details/tyroneoftodaygat00wils
TYRONE OF TO-DAY
- -THE- - -
GATEWAY
-OF THE-
11
1
ALLEGHANIES
BY REV. W. H. WILSON.
SOUVENIR EDITION.
TYRONE, PA. PRESS OF THE HERALD 1897
CONTENTS.
Chapter 1-The Place and Its Advantages.
Chapter 2-Its Founding and Growth.
1981151
Chapter 3-The Country and Surroundings. Chapter 4-Additions and Suburbs. Chapter 5-Public Matters.
Chapter 6-Social Life.
Chapter 7-Full Description of the Principal Business Enter- prises of Tyrone.
ILLUSTRATED WITH NUMEROUS CUTS
$ 20.00 Outtle - P Jan 22-1978 208656
TYRONE OF TO-DAY.
I.
The Place and its Advantages.
ALF A CENTURY AGO, when the great Pennsyl- vania R. R. was projected and surveys were made to ascertain the most eligible route, the gap between the mountains where the Little Juniata cleaves its way through the ridges, changing its course abruptly from northwest to southwest, was recognized as the natural gateway between the populous East and the undeveloped West. At this point, midway between the capital of Pennsylvania and its western metropolis, being 117 miles by rail from Harrisburg and 131 from Pittsburg, was started and has grown up the embryo city of Tyrone, now a place of 7000 inhabitants. A favorable situation, pure air, bold scenery, ready communica- tion with the outside world, solid business enterprises and an active, intelligent class of people combine to assure it of a much larger growth. Just as the Allegheny from the north and the Monongahela from the south mingle their waters at Pittsburg and turn together to the west, so at Tyrone the little Bald Eagle creek from its source six miles northeast joins itself to the Juniata from the southwest, the united stream flowing southeast on its way to the Susquehanna; while from the other side of this watershed the waters of the great Bald Eagle flow down to the river at Lock Haven.
Situated near the center of the state, at the most northern point of the main line of the P. R. R., nature and the con- trivances of men have united to make it a convenient distrib- uting point for commerce. The coal fields of Clearfield and adjoining counties are reached by the T. & C. R. R. and through Bell's Gap by the Penn'a & N. W. R. R. The Bald
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Eagle Valley R. R. leads to the valley of the Susquehanna, connecting there with other lines of the P. R. R. extending to the Hard Coal region on the East and the Lake country in the North and West. The main line of this system gives access to the great cities of the Atlantic coast and to those of the middle states, being the highway of travel between New York and Chicago and St. Louis. Because of its advantages for travel and traffic it is the home of a large number of com- mercial travelers. The merchant or manufacturer wishing to establish a business where he may easily reach his customers at all points from the Mississippi to the Ocean, and where expenses will be lowest, can find no better location than the thriving town of the Juniata and the mountains.
Looking from one of the eminences which nearly surround it, Tyrone lies spread out before the eye, though not all of it can be seen from any one place. It stretches in an oblong shape, nearly north and south, along the river and creek, having an average width of about half a mile within the borough limits, reaching out towards the suburbs of Greens- burg on the north, Northwood on the northeast, Nealmont on the southeast, and Thomastown and Grazierville on the south- west. The increasing population overflows each year into these localities, which are no doubt destined to become part of a greater Tyrone, not many years hence.
Nestling among the "Everlasting Hills" on the eastern slope of the mountains, 900 feet above sea level, Tyrone is not less desirable as a place of residence or of temporary sojourn than as a location for business. Its streets are broad and clean and its houses neat and comfortable. It has the purest water flowing from the summit of the Alleghanies, gas and electric lights, and schools and churches not inferior to those of larger cities. Those who seek rest and recreation in the hot weather can make no better choice than to spend their vacation in a place which has all the comforts of the city at the least ex- pense, and the freedom and charms of the country brought to their very doors. The visitor may find entertainment to his liking in hotel or private house, where his night's repose will be untroubled by noise or heat or "creature" discomforts.
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In the morning, after a satisfying meal, he may sally forth to take in the beauties of nature or enjoy the charms of society. An hour's ride by rail takes him over the mountains through the Allegheny tunnel, 3600 feet long, and round the wonderful Horse Shoe Curve, a journey which is a surprise and delight at every step, to Cresson, the great summer resort of this region. The next day, in another hour's ride, he may view the wilder scenery of Bell's Gap, climbing the mountain by a steeper grade and winding around a sharper curve, stopping to picnic in Rhododendron Park, lovely in its solitude. A day will be well spent in a trip to Bellefonte, the pivot of Pennsylvania, being the capital of Center county, that nursery of Governors for this great commonwealth, and within a few miles of the exact geographical center of the state; a town beautiful for situation, with attractive drives close at hand, and, near by, Pennsylvania State College. The far-famed Wopsononock claims another day, just a few miles out from Altoona on the A. C. & N. R. R. After feasting upon nature day after day, the visitor may turn his course eastward to the neighbouring town of Huntingdon, the seat of the Penn'a Industrial Reformatory with its more than 500 inmates, the railroad here again burrowing through Tussey mountain in the Spruce Creek Tunnel, a stupendous work which occupied more than a year in construction.
A tour may be made over the Tyrone and Clearfield R. R. with its curve at the Big Fill where the track runs for about a mile on opposite sides of a deep gorge, so that the train while ascending from one slope to another seems to be turning back upon its course. In carriage or bicycle the traveler may seek other places of interest: Mountain Seminary, a school for girls in the old town of Birmingham, three miles from Tyrone; Hundred Springs Park, on the way thither; Warriorsmark, another old town, seven miles distant, in a fine valley dotted: with fertile farms; Arch Springs, seven miles out, one of the' greatest curiosities of nature in Sinking Valley. If he be a sportsman he may gratify his inclination for amusement. Plunging into the forest, up the hillside or down the banks of
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the streams, he may find both enjoyment and health in hunt- ing or fishing.
The county of Blair has just passed its semi-centennial which was marked by a rousing celebration at Hollidaysburg on June 11 and 12, 1896, having increased from about 11,000 to about 80,000 in population. It was called after the great grandfather of George D. Blair whose residence is in Tyrone but whose business interests are now chiefly in Pittsburg. The family name is perpetuated also in the Gap and Run, near which their progenitor, Captain Thomas Blair, settled. Hon. John Blair was a man who impressed himself upon the community in which he lived. The son of one who served his struggling country in the Revolutionary war, he was no less active in the arts of peace. He is remembered as President of the Huntingdon, Cambria and Indiana Turnpike Co., and an ardent promoter of the Pennsylvania Canal, which was finished in 1832, the year of his death.
Another name which is kept green in the memory of the inhabitants of Blair county is that of the old Indian chief "Logan." The little stream which drains Warriorsmark Valley, the "Narrows" through which it flows into the Juniata, the large hotel in Altoona known of travelers the world over, the township around that city, the valley from it to Tyrone, and the Electric Railway which traverses the valley, all bear the name of Logan.
Near the "Big Spring" in Tyrone, which is the Sinking Run reappearing after its subterranean flow of over half a mile under the homes of Lincoln avenue, Logan lived in his rude cabin. The hundreds of arrowheads turned up by the plow close to that spot indicate that it was a rendezvous of the red race, now vanished like the waters, but never like them to return. The sad fate of other historic characters was re- peated in the experience of Logan. A white man laid claim to the land and he was told to move on. How often and how shamefully have the prior rights of the aboriginal possessors of the soil been thus set aside at the instigation of avarice ! The old chief shook the dust of the future city off his feet
To Buffalo
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Wmspt.
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philipsburgh
B. E. Y. R. R.
To Bellefonte
P. + N. W. R. R.
T. +C. R.R.
T.+L. R. R. Scotia
TYORONE
Bellwood
Cresson
Altoond
Huntingdon
P. R. R.
Harrisburg
Johnstown
H. 2 B.T. R.R.
Beckford
:
RAILROAD MAP.
1
Punxsutawney
Lewistown
Q Pittsburg
P.R.R
VIEW OF TYRONE LOOKING NORTH.
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1 -
VIEW OF TYRONE LOOKING SOUTHWEST.
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2.
5.
4
GROUP OF PIONEERS.
1-William G. Waring; 2-Robert Waring; 3-J. M. Calderwood ; 4-Rev. John D. Stewart ; 5-John T. Mathias; 6-George Burley ; 7-Jacob Burley.
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about 1785, and his ashes rest somewhere in the neighboring town of Clearfield.
Sinking Run merits more than a passing mention. Ris ing in the Allegheny summit it flows rapidly down its slope till, within the borough limits, it encounters a high rocky point through which it seeks an outlet. This it finds only by tunneling a passage for itself sufficient for ordinary times but too small for times of heavy rainfall or melting snow. For this overflow an additional escape is provided in Dry Run, which cuts a straight course to the Little Bald Eagle, a few rods above its mouth. The writer witnessed in the Spring Flood of 1893 a feat of heroism which ought not to go unre- corded, if not otherwise rewarded. A mad torrent was pour- ing down the run and whirling and roaring over the vortex of the sink, when a cry was raised " A child in the run!"' While men and women were hastening to the scene and asking what should be done, a boy fourteen years old, Abbie Fleck, just coming home from school, ran down the bank to where the senseless form was tumbling about in the rocks and waters. In spite of the tremendous force of the current, he reached the drowning body and bore it to land. The little girl. Amelia Strohmeyer, six years of age, owes her life to the prompt action of her deliverer, for she was within a few yards of the sink and so nearly gone that several hours passed before con sciousness was restored.
For lovely mountain scenery the vicinity of Tyrone is unsurpassed. To climb the rocky ridges is no child's pastime but the views gained, of near and distant summits rising tier above tier, of winding watercourses, of blue sky seen through hills of darkest green, repay the toiler for his efforts. Such a vision spreads out before the eye from the top of Brush Moun- tain, overlooking the town and facing the Alleghanies. Its highest point here is said to be about 700 feet above the river. In an hour's ride by train or "over land " one may gain 1200 feet in elevation and fill his lungs with purest oxygen and refresh his thirst with water from the fountainhead.
To the thoughtful man these lofty domes, topped with tall trees pointing skyward, preach a more eloquent sermon than
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was ever spoken from cathedral pulpit. While it is true that wisdom cries "in the chief places of concourse," it is equally true that her voice is lost in the Babel of business and pleasure. It has been said " Vox populi, vox dei," the voice of the peo- ple is the voice of God. A better saying would be "The voices of nature are the voice of God." These aspects of nature are mute witnesses to the perfections of the Creator, and "He that hath ears to hear " them is made a wiser and a better man.
The mineral resources of Tyrone can hardly be overrated. The hills are full of limestone, the vast quantities shipped in a score of years only revealing the vaster stores remaining. The iron industry, now somewhat dormant, is destined some day to wake up again. These valleys, where even in the last century the production of the metal was briskly carried on, will again be lit up with the fires that mean more for the enrichment of the race than the gold mines of the Pacific slope. More than a hundred years ago lead was shipped east from the neighborhood of Birmingham, and the deposits are awaiting the touch of capital to yield their treasures into the hands of man. The proximity of the Clearfield coal with its 74 per cent. of carbon gives to this locality special advantages for the development of the wealth which nature has hidden away in these rocky vaults.
.0
II.
Its Founding and Growth.
IDWAY IN THE CENTURY. on Christmas day, 1850, the pioneer family moved into their humble habitation which stood at the intersection of the main thoroughfares of Tyrone of to-day, and on the ground now covered by the elegant business block of Study's. Could we of to-day see this bustling valley from the Forges to the Big Spring as it lay before their eyes and as to a few of our citizens it looks in memory's retrospect, the transformation would seem like a dream rather than a fact. Where but a hundred years ago the Red Man's form alone was seen, as with bow in hand he tracked his game through the lone wilderness, or in noiseless canoe glided down the sleeping waters, now under the dominion of a new race cities have grown up in the bosom of that solitude; its primeval quiet is broken by the noise of factories, the rush of traffic ; those river banks have become the highway of commerce, along which, with the speed of the wind, the people and pro- ducts of the far east whirl past those of the distant west. Then no commodious station stood at the foot of Pennsylvania avenue, and no bridge to cross the river if there had been one. The railroad received and discharged passengers at the Old Forges where now the Lewisburg branch crosses the river. The first bridge on Pennsylvania avenue was built a few years later, after the Bald Eagle Plank Road had been finished, con- necting Bellefonte and Tyrone. A wagon road, rough and narrow, led up to the site of the town which was not marked off until the following spring. About where the Ward House stands, a family of Snyders, since moved away, lived in a wilderness of laurels. Far out from the limits of the original town, in the house now occupied by Mrs. McGovern, lived the father of Jonathan Burley, the first burgess and still an hon- ored citizen of the town. This family had come into the
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vicinity in 1837. A log school house, 18 by 20 feet, stood on 12th street, to which a few of our older citizens look back as their only Alma Mater. A year or two later, in the building on Washington avenue above 12th street, since enlarged into a three story dwelling for four families, a new school house was erected and an upper story was fitted up for religious services. It was in this humble sanctuary that John D. Stewart came under an influence that turned the current of his life. Here for several years the school was carried on by J. M. Calderwood who is remembered as long a prominent and useful citizen. Near the "Big Spring " a farm house was in- habited successively by Abram Waite, Philip Hoover and others whose names are only recognizable by the oldest inhab- itants. In a log house where now Mr. Samuel McCamant's residence stands, lived the father of Andrew Gardner and there William Gardner first saw the light eighty-nine years ago. In those days and for several years later, the lower portion of what is now Tyrone on both sides of the Juniata was low, wet ground; the waters of the Bald Eagle found an outlet through a channel that flowed diagonally from above 11th street to the foot of Logan avenue. Then the great route of travel and traffic between the east and west was by the Pennsylvania canal and, instead of the tracks which now thread the valleys and cross the mountains, a primitive roadway cut through the forest furnished the only means of communication, leaving the canal at Water Street and passing through Birmingham and Warriorsmark and over the mountains into Centre and Clear- field counties. The product of the furnaces was carried on the backs of horses and mules to Johnstown, and thence shipped by water to Pittsburg.
The town derives its name undoubtedly, though indirectly, from the county of Tyrone in the Emerald Isle, which at the recent Irish Exposition Chauncey Depew proudly claimed as his ancestral soil. The names of a large proportion of the people indicate plainly the stock of which they came, that hardy, thrifty race from the north of Ireland which has con- tributed so much to the material progress and moral advance- ment of this nation. Along with these was associated in the
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early settlement of the country a goodly percentage of sturdy Germans and a few of other nationalities, but these have be- come so thoroughly blended and assimilated in language, cus- toms and views, that it would be truth to say that few places if any have a more pronounced American type of population. Latterly a great number of European laborers have been brought in, but it is to be hoped that many of these, now un- couth and ignorant, will grow into good and useful citizens. Immigration should be restricted, and there need be no fear for the future; our schools will make good citizens of the coming generations.
The pioneer who first set up housekeeping in Tyrone was Jacob Burley, and the building which served as a dwelling house and a store was a story and a half frame. The carpenter who put up this first house was Mr. Geo. Burley who is still an active and respected citizen, bidding fair to welcome in the new century and witness the semi-centennial of the new town of which the Burley stock might truthfully say the oft-quoted words, " Quorum magna pars fui" or, in homelier speech, " We were a large part of it."
A young man who had learned the cabinet-making trade in Warriorsmark and afterwards spent a few years in the south and west was one of the first to settle in Tyrone and is still one of its most honored business men. This was Jonathan Burley, a cousin of Jacob. In January, 1851, he married and in the spring of that year moved into the old house which oc- cupies the same spot in the rear of his residence on the corner of Logan avenue and 12th street.
The first house built was in a few years moved to where- A. A. Smith's store is now, and was the first to burn. It was. much to the surprise of Mr. Stewart, its owner, when on com- ing down the street at about nine o'clock in the morning he- saw the ashes of the building. Among the oldest houses was. the original structure of what has been for many years the Heims residence on the corner opposite the First M. E. church.
On the present site of the " Arlington " was the log resi- dence of Thomas McQuillan, afterwards a citizen of East Tyrone. Adjoining or near the log school house was the first
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rude public house kept by William Burns. The first building of a better class, which must have seemed palatial in those days, was the City Hotel now conducted by Charles Woodin. It was put up as it now stands in 1852 by John D. Stewart who had a larger part in the making of Tyrone than any one now living, and in 1852 opened by him for the same purpose for which it has served these forty-five years. The faith of the first builders of the town was severely tried. In that summer of 1851 there came a flood which converted all of what is now the business center into a lake. The little creek rose and spread itself, and the inhabitants had to work hard to save their movable goods. In spite of their efforts. Stewart and Burley lost some lumber from their yards near 10th street and Pennsylvania avenue. They were doing a promiscuous business in every sort of merchandise; there were not so many kinds then as now. The Waring brothers came among the first and started their nurseries. William G., now an octogenarian, was the first to build on the street now called Washington avenue. Robert Waring has been identified with public interests for all these years. Among the early settlers were the Jones brothers, Samuel and Jacob.
The business now carried on in the corner where the pioneer store stood, dates back to 1853 when E. L. Study arrived. Mr. Study and Mr. Pius Sneeringer, both now de- ceased, contributed largely to many important public enter- prises. Mr. Samuel Berlin opened up a drug store in 1854, which he kept for years, taking in the early days a very active part in the affairs of the community. The harness store of John A. Hiller was established in 1855 and only discontinued in 1895. The first edifice of the M. E. church on 12th street and Washington avenue was built in 1852.
The need of good roads was soon felt, and in 1853 the old plank was constructed by private enterprise leading to Belle- fonte. The crack of the stage driver's whip used to be heard, as he rounded the promontory which overlooks Northwood and drove down Pennsylvania avenue. The little town, hav- ing perhaps 700 people, was incorporated in 1857. Jonathan H. Burley was the first burgess and Caleb Guyer the first
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clerk, each being re-elected the following year. The growing trade of the borough demanded better means of communication with the interior of the state and railroads down the valley and over the mountain were projected. The Clearfield line was started by David I. Pruner, father of E. J. Pruner. Having large lumber interests he laid out the town of Osceola and planned to tap the P. R. R. at Tyrone. The T. and C. R. R. in which he was the principal mover was begun in 1856 but not completed and opened for traffic till 1862. The Bald Eagle Valley road also which was begun by local capitalists of Centre county met with reverses in its early history and, like its sister branch, fell into the hands of the P. R. R. and was opened in the same year. The building of these railroads of the Tyrone division assured the future of the town and it began to make substantial growth. Its progress from that time may best be learned from the sketch of business enter- prises in another chapter. In 1870 its population was 1800. In 1880 it had increased to 3000. In that year occurred the great fire which broke out in the livery stable in the rear of the City Hotel at 3 a. m. of July 8, 1880. All its contents, including nine horses, went with the building. The fire-swept space extended from I. P. Walton's store around the corner of Tenth street nearly to Logan avenue, leaving very little of the business portion and causing a loss estimated at $150,000. The Neptune Fire Company which was then the only organi- zation of its kind, was unable to cope with the devouring element alone, and two companies from Altoona and one from Huntingdon were summoned and hastened to its help, so that finally the rest of the town was made safe from the ravages of the fire. The burnt area was soon cleared and by the energy of its owners covered with substantial buildings.
Since that time there have been seasons of depression and discouragement but Tyrone has stood up well among its sister towns and, during the hard times of the past few years, has held its own probably better than most of them. The most notable event of recent years is that which has made Memorial Day of 1893 especially memorable to the people of Tyrone. On the morning of May 30, 1893, a heavily loaded train bear-
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ing Walter L. Main's great circus, while descending the curves of the T. and C. R. R., three miles above town, was hurled from the track and wrecked. The force of gravitation had wrested it from the control of the engineer, and in the inde- scribable ruin which spread before the eyes of the thousands of visitors to the scene, fifty-three fine horses lay dead or dying, and an unreported number of animals wild and tame were either dead or missing. Four of the employees of the circus were killed and two of our citizens, William Heverly, a brakeman, and Robert M. Gates, who was struck by a swinging rope while helping to clear the track.
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