Chapter 24
Section 24 of A Guide Book of Art, Architecture, and Historic Interests in Pennsylvania, edited by Margaretta R. Schimbo. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Read by Tatiana Cicilla. Huntingdon County. Formed September 20, 1787.
Named by Provost William Smith of the University of Pennsylvania. In honor of Selena, Countess of Huntingdon, a benefactress of the University. Lies within the central mountainous region, being drained by the Juniata. Many fine farms are on the rich soil of the River Flats. Juniata iron early became famous, and numerous ironworks were erected.
The old Bedford Furnace was near Orbisonia. Abundance, variety, and value of the oars. Rich and convenient deposits of limestone. Contiguity of the Broad Top, Allegheny, and Cumberland Coalfields. Combined to indicate the importance of this country.
Other industries are coal mining, lumber, agriculture, and manufactories. Large water power dams of the Pennsylvania Central. And raised town water power companies generate electric light and power. Huntingdon County Seat. Population 7,051.
Largest town on the Juniata. The first white visitors to this region were traders and traffic with Indians. Exchanging goods for furs and skins. On incursions made before the middle of the 18th century. They found a tribe, a branch of the Six Nations.
Located on the now southeast portion of this borough. Their wigwams circling around a pillar of stone. 14 feet high and 6 inches square. Covered with hieroglyphics. Supposed to be a record of their history and achievements.
This tribe, besides hunting and fishing, had cleared land and cultivated corn. This stone was regarded with great veneration by the natives. Here they had assembled for centuries to hold their grand councils. Its conspicuous position and appearance led the white visitors to name the locality Standing Stone. It stood above Second Street.
On or near 208 Allegheny Street. Conrad Weisler in 1748. And John Harris in 1754. In accounts of their journeys to the Ohio River. Both describe this stone.
The proprietaries of this province. Ever mindful of the rights of the Indians. Would not grant lands nor permit settlements to be made. Until the Indian title had been purchased. At a treaty held in Albany in 1754.
The Six Nations. Consisting of the Mohawks. Oneidas. Onondagas. Cayugas.
Senecas. And Tuscaroras. Executed a deed to the proprietaries for a large portion of the province. Including the whole valley of the Juniata. Soon after the resident tribe migrated.
And it is supposed to carry the stone with them. The seal of the borough has, as its central figure, a standing stone. A second stone was erected by the settlers. And in 1896 a third at Penn and Third Streets. As a memorial of the ancient standing stone of the Indians.
Fort Standing Stone was built here at an early date. Site about intersection of Penn and Second Streets. It was stockaded and provided with barracks. Block houses and magazines constructed of heavy hewn timber. And was the place of many important incidents during troublesome times.
Following the defeat of General Braddock in 1755. And until peace was made with Great Britain in 1783. Provost William Smith D.D. Obtained the land in 1766 from George Croghan. And numerous other tracts in the vicinity.
And in 1767 caused the town of Huntingdon to be laid out. Now on the William Penn Highway. The proprietor donating plots of ground for a public school. Cemetery. And to each of the six prominent religious denominations.
About 1797 a post office was established here. And John Cadwallader was appointed postmaster. A weekly mail was carried between Harrisburg and Huntingdon. The most important public buildings architecturally. Are Juniata College.
Nine buildings. Erected 1878 to 1916. The older buildings are colonial. Library. Gothic.
Red brick with terracotta trimmings. Built 1907. Contains memorial windows. The Church of the Brethren on the college campus. Gothic.
McGee Sandstone. Erected 1910. Members of this sect settled in this county in 1775. And the J.C. Blair Memorial Hospital. Spanish mission style.
Light buff brick and Indiana limestone trimmings. On a commanding position overlooking the town. E.L. Tilton. New York. Architect.
Also of the college library and Church of the Brethren. Among the places of historic interest in the county are. Fort Shirley. Built 1755. On bluff near site of Indian town of Auchwick.
Now Shirley'sburg. McAlevey's Fort. At the head of Standing Stone Creek Valley. Named for Captain William McAlevey. Afterwards general and revolutionary war.
Warm Springs. Five miles northeast of Huntington. Known in 1775 as a resort for invalids. Pulpit rocks on the Warriors Ridge. On the old pike between Huntington and Alexandria.
And Jack's Narrows. Where the Juniata River cuts through Jack's Mountain. West of Mount Union. The Pennsylvania Canal extended through this county. From Shavers Aqueduct below Mount Union.
To line of Blair County above Water Street. Here in Indian times canoes came to receive supplies of lead. Two miles east is Alexandria. Laid out 1793. In 1800 the Turnpike was completed to Alexandria.
And stage service to Harrisburg began. Fair charge travelers was six cents a mile. This town was the shipping point of grain. For the Rich Hearts Log and Shavers Creek Valleys. End of section 24.
