The Allegheny Mountains constantly challenged early settlers to use their creativity and skills to conquer what seemed an almost insurmountable barrier. The founding fathers recognized potential in the area both as a resort and as a thriving town that would attract industry. Through hard work and innovation, an all-rail route over the mountains was established, linking the area with important industrial and trade centers. Many people came to Cresson to enjoy the health and recreational benefits of its natural springs, and the area's "pike" afforded the first stage link between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. When the Pennsylvania Railroad established headquarters here, with a roundhouse, machine shops, and branch lines, the area entered an era of industrial prosperity. I n this remarkable volume, over 200 rare images are combines with informative and insightful text. Early views of the famous Horseshoe Curve, the Gallitzin Tunnels, and the Mountain House are delightfully intertwined with photographs of homes, workplaces, churches, and the people who made the area prosper and grow. Readers visit Loretto, a town founded by "A Prince-Priest, Demetrius A. Gallitzin, Apostle of the Alleghenies" and they are transported to Portage and Lilly, areas of woodlands that gave rise to numerous sawmills.

The Allegheny Mountains constantly challenged early settlers to use their creativity and skills to conquer what seemed an almost insurmountable barrier. The founding fathers recognized potential in the area both as a resort and as a thriving town that would attract industry. Through hard work and innovation, an all-rail route over the mountains was established, linking the area with important industrial and trade centers. Many people came to Cresson to enjoy the health and recreational benefits of its natural springs, and the area's "pike" afforded the first stage link between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. When the Pennsylvania Railroad established headquarters here, with a roundhouse, machine shops, and branch lines, the area entered an era of industrial prosperity. I n this remarkable volume, over 200 rare images are combines with informative and insightful text. Early views of the famous Horseshoe Curve, the Gallitzin Tunnels, and the Mountain House are delightfully intertwined with photographs of homes, workplaces, churches, and the people who made the area prosper and grow. Readers visit Loretto, a town founded by "A Prince-Priest, Demetrius A. Gallitzin, Apostle of the Alleghenies" and they are transported to Portage and Lilly, areas of woodlands that gave rise to numerous sawmills.

Blair County is a picturesque area of five hundred thirty square miles, carved from the foothills of the Allegheny Mountains in western Pennsylvania. Its lush forests, fertile valleys, and exquisite vistas attracted settlers as early as the mid-1700s. Its rich supply of minerals-iron, lead, and limestone-prompted the development of furnaces, forges, mills, and quarries; during the nineteenth century, the manufacture of iron was the principal business of the county.Illustrated with more than two hundred images, Around Blair County includes all the charm of the hamlets and towns it highlights: Hollidaysburg, Duncansville, Newry, Tyrone, Bellwood, Claysburg, Roaring Spring, Martinsburg, and Williamsburg. It explains how Duncansville emerged as an antiques mecca, and it celebrates the still preserved Mount Etna iron furnace. It features well-known and lesser-known people from the area, such as steel man Charles Schwab, musician and inventor Fred Waring, and lamplighter Homer Butler.

A compilation of captioned photos of the Punxsutawney area in Pennsylvania as well as a history of Groundhog day.

Northern Cambria is not only the upper region of Cambria County, it is also the new name of two century-old villages, Barnesboro and Spangler, that have merged to become a millennium entity. Located high in the Allegheny Mountains of western Pennsylvania, the region was once covered by virgin forests. In time, the dense acreage led to the development of numerous sawmills, from which logs were floated all the way downriver to what was then the lumbering capital of the world, Williamsport. Miles of scenic farmland were cleared and cultivated. Then, in the mid-1800s, rich coal veins were found beneath the Cambrian hills. As word of this discovery spread, mines opened throughout the region. Within a short time, immigrants from far and near streamed into the region to work in the mines. Soon, rail lines were constructed to serve the coal fields. High school graduates became miners and dubbed the mines "Dust College." Coal had become king.