Pennsylvania State...
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Pennsylvania Counties
|
|
 |
|
|
| |
|
|
Blair County, Pennsylvania
Blair County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education
County Seat: Hollidaysburg
Year Organized: 1846
Square Miles: 526 |
Court House: 423 Allegheny Street
County Courthouse
Hollidaysburg, PA 16648-2022
|
Etymology - Origin of County Name
Named for John Blair, a prominent citizen.
Demographics:
County QuickFacts:
Census Bureau Quick Facts
History
Created on February 26, 1846 from
parts of Huntingdon and Bedford Counties, and named for John Blair, a prominent
citizen. Hollidaysburg, the county seat, was incorporated as a borough on August
10, 1836, and named for Adam and William Holliday, early settlers.
Before the county's formation the area was located on the Frankstown Path and
was dangerous to settle because of threats from Indians. It was visited by the
Catholic priest Prince Demetrius Gallitzin. The Blair family appeared after the
Revolution and led the movement to form the county. In 1831 Hollidaysburg became
the terminal of the Portage Railroad that carried canal boats over the mountains
to Johnstown. Altoona arose because of the Pennsylvania Railroad's yards founded
there in 1846; this was the main employer in the county until the 1970s. Iron
production diminished after 1865, but Blair has produced much bituminous coal,
paper, and printing products, as well as the lumber used by the canal and the
railroad. Its mountainous terrain is unfavorable for cultivation, but Blair
ranks twenty-fourth among Pennsylvania's sixty-seven counties in income from
livestock. One-fourth of the land is held in farms. Originally settled by German
and Scotch-Irish groups, Altoona's railroad employment brought about a much
wider ethnic mix.
Neighboring Counties:
Cities and Towns:
|
- Altoona |
city |
Incorporated Area |
|
- Antis |
township |
|
|
- Bellwood |
borough |
Incorporated Area |
|
- Blair |
township |
|
|
- Catharine |
township |
|
|
- Duncansville |
borough |
Incorporated Area |
|
- Frankstown |
township |
|
|
- Greenfield |
township |
|
|
- Hollidaysburg
(County
Seat) |
borough |
Incorporated Area |
|
- Huston |
township |
|
|
- Juniata |
township |
|
|
- Logan |
township |
|
|
- Martinsburg |
borough |
Incorporated Area |
|
- Newry |
borough |
Incorporated Area |
|
- North Woodbury |
township |
|
|
- Roaring Spring |
borough |
Incorporated Area |
|
- Snyder |
township |
|
|
- Tyrone |
borough |
Incorporated Area |
|
- Williamsburg |
borough |
Incorporated Area |
County Resources:
Enter County Resources and Information Here
|
|
County Resource Guide
|
|
|
The history of our nation can be seen as a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names we've given our counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic
features of our country!"
But age, size and colorful names of our counties isn't the only reason to explore counties' role in American history, or the history of county government itself. In fact, the story of county government reflects the larger meanings of American history.
Today's counties are the most flexible, locally responsive and creative governments in the US. They are the most diverse, varying in size, population, geography, and governmental structure. In their politics and policies, they express a 1990's political slogan "Think globally,
act locally." |
|
|
| |
Penn Foster High School
|
|
|
|
