Kittanning

Kittanning is located in Armstrong County along the Allegheny river. The town's population was 4,044 in 2010. The word Kittanning comes from an Indian word meaning "The place at the Great River" and Kittanning's history goes back to the days when the Native Americans lived here.

Jefferson Street

Back in the 1700's the Delaware Indians inhabited the area and created a village here known as Kittanning. The Kittanning path was located in this area and was an east west route for the Native Americans and the early settlers. This pathway was used as early as the 1720's.

Armstrong County Courthouse

N. McKean Street

The area in those days was full of unrest and disagreements between the Native Americans and the settlers. Indian raids were part of life and new wars would be initiated across the frontier of Pennsylvania. The French and Indian War was a turbulent time and in the 1750's the Battle of Kittanning would take place. The Delaware Indians and the Shawnee Tribes would partner up with the French to raid towns and they used the village of Kittanning as a home base for their attacks against the British. The British knew of this village and planned an attack of 300 people led by John Armstrong in 1756. John Armstrong and his troops destroyed the village. One story that was told was when Captain Jacobs house had gunpowder stored inside and when the gunpowder went off, it was heard 44 miles away in Pittsburgh.

Riverfront Park

After the war, Kittanning began again as a new settlement in 1803. This area was known for the abundance of steel production and was one of the main industries of Kittaning. Other industries included coal, lumber, clay and brick plants. The town eventually became the county seat and the population had another spike in the early 1900's because of a merge between Kittanning and Wicksboro.

Train Station

Old factory

Map of Kittanning
Google Earth

Today, Kittaning has the courthouse, jail and the river front park. If you drive around east end of town you can see the old train stations and some of the old factories.

Port Allegany

This was a town that was part of my winter run throughout the northern central part of Pennsylvania. It was the last town on my drive and I was happy to visit some of the neat buildings and parks in this area. 

Main Street

Port Allegany is located in McKean County close to the New York border and it's population was 2,107 people in 2010. In the pioneering days, this was a travel stop for the settlers along the Allegheny river. The original name was called "Canoe Place" because of the settlers building their canoes here. The first settlers in the area came about from Samuel Stanton who bought a large track of land here and built a cabin. He went back home to Williamsport but died coming back to the area. Some of his family however became the first settlers in the town. The name changed to Keating in the early 1800's but  changed again to Port Allegany in 1840. 

St. Josephs Episcopal Church

House located on Maple Street

Serenity Glass Park

The town became a borough in 1882 and was an important logging town with several hotels and businesses. The population continued to increase by the 1900's and the town had saw mills, butter dish manufacturer, chemical plant, Citizens Gas Company and a door blind company. Port Allegany was also a leader in glass making and had multiple glass manufactures such as the Olean Glass Company, Ball-Foster Glass Container Corporation and the Pittsburgh-Corning Corporation giving the nickname "the glass block capitol of the world". 

Park in the middle of town

Fireside Inn

Map of Port Allegany
Google Earth

Today, Port Allegany has Serenity Glass Park and many historic structures and restaurants throughout. 

Freeland

Freeland is located in Luzerne County about 105 miles northwest of Philadelphia. It's population in 2010 was 3,531. The highest recorded population was in 1930 with 7,098.

Centre Street

Joseph Birbeck was credited as the town founder in the 1800's. Joseph was born in England and came to America in the 1840's. Joseph was known as an outdoors man and loved to hunt. He came to this area to hunt and decided he wanted to live here. In those days the area was a thick forest with Indian trails throughout. Edward Lynch granted him land that same year in a valley near Freeland. This particular area was called Birbeckville. Joseph built his sawmill here.

The demand for coal was on the rise and Joseph surveyed the lots. These particular lots ended up being the town of South Heberton named after George Heberton which is now part of Freeland. Today, the original part of South Herberton is located on Schwabe Street. Upper Lehigh was also a mining town located just north of South Herberton which was owned by the Upper Lehigh Company. The town was settled in 1844.

Agustus Wilheim Von Donop was born in Germany who also helped the area thrive. He was employed at a coal company then started buying land and selling plots creating the town Dunop's Village then changed the name to Freehold.

A map showing Freehold, Upper Lehigh and South Heberton

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

Birbeck was not just the town founder but he also made roadways from South Heberton to the village of Eckley in the mid 1800's. The road also went to Buck Mountain. South Heberton, Freehold and Foster Township would merge together to make Freeland. The town was incorporated as a borough in 1876. A school was built, tavern, stores and eventually the Slovak Church was in Freeland. The population in the late 1800's was still well under 1,000 but it grew largely due to the coal industry. Many immigrants from Europe seeked refuge in this area because of the industry demand and a better future for themselves.

Many historians say that Freeland itself was never an actual mining town but the villages around this town were coal company owned. What made Freeland so special was that the stores were not controlled by the coal companies but by the residents who lived there. The prices of goods would be lower then in coal company towns. This in itself promoted growth in the town.

 After the town grew to over 7,000 people in the 1930's, it steadily declined because of the coal industry and the great depression. After the mines would close down many people would move away from the area.

Centre Street

Fern Street

Today, Freeland has a few parks, little league field, YMCA and many restaurants.


Historical information provided by standardspeaker.com and Wikipedia