Blair County the 'Jewel' Of Pennsylvania in 1946

Roberts, the Pittsburgh-based jewelry company that was called “the oldest in America” in 1946, described Blair County as the jewel of all 67 counties in Pennsylvania.

In an advertising booklet aimed at spreading the word about this long-held family-owned and operated company, the enterprising family gathered historical information and wrote vignettes about each of the counties in the commonwealth.

They were first published in the Pittsburgh Sun Telegraph and, in response to popular demand, were later compiled in a booklet of sorts and made available to 75,000 state residents.

The family was especially impressed with Blair County and was awed by the county’s natural beauty enhanced by the Horseshoe Curve.

“The scenery of Blair County is one of the most picturesque in the state and the famous Horseshoe Curve, four miles west of Altoona on the Pennsylvania (Railroad) system, is the place where nature and the hand of man combined to make one of the scenic wonders of America,” wrote the authors.

The “world-famed” design of the curve was profound because it allowed the train engineer to look back and see the caboose “as his train travels over most of a complete circle.”

But the stories focus on how each county got its name and successfully found complimentary aspects about each.

In the case of Blair, it was named in honor or John Blair, whose father Thomas Blair was an officer in the Continental Army.

The stories were written in 1946, a century after the Feb. 26, 1846, act of legislature separating the 535 square miles comprising Blair from Bedford and Huntingdon counties.

The one city of Blair is Altoona, surrounded by eight boroughs and 15 townships.

The retired Army officer settled in what is now Blair’s Gap where he built a “fine residence,” and where his son John, later to become a judge, was born.

Added points of interest in the vignette are that Hollidaysburg, long the county seat, was named for Adam Holliday, who settled there in 1768. He used the stable on the Titus farm as a stockade and the area was given the moniker of “Fort Holliday.”

Altoona, known even today as the “Mountain City,” was given the name not because of the altitude, but by a train engineer who visited the area and envisioned it would someday be a great railroad center.

The town was named for Altona, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, site of the world’s first railroad shops.

Bellwood was named for Edward Bell who settled in the northern part of Blair County and initially called the area Bell’s Mills.

Its neighbor Tyrone was named for what was termed the “old” Tyrone Township and was settled by immigrants from Ireland in 1850. The borough was incorporated from Snyder Township on July 27, 1857.

The last bit of information offered by the jewelry men focuses on Roaring Spring, which is actually the third name given this bustling Morrisons Cove town.

It was named for the extraordinarily loud spring in Taylor Township and was called Spangs Mill. For a while it also was called Baretown in honor of D.M. Bare of the paper mill fame and later was officially changed to Roaring Spring.

The area was settled by Dunkards during the mid- to late 1750s.