GUIDE FOR THE PENNSYLVANIA
Including the Entire Route
with all Its
Windings, Objects of Interest, and Information Useful
to the Traveller
PhiladelphiaT. K. and P. G. Collins, Printers1855
THE city of Philadelphia may be regarded as the eastern terminus
of the Pennsylvania Railroad, though the road itself terminates
at Harrisburg. The importance of the road is at once felt, when
it is understood that it is the only direct highway between the
cities of Philadelphia and Pittsburg.
A brief statement of the extent and resources of Philadelphia
will suffice to show that she is second to no city in the country
in business importance.
In the first place, the city of Philadelphia contains, as shown
by the last census, a greater number of dwellings than any other
city in the Union. Exceeding New York by twenty-three thousand
six hundred and one dwellings. No inconsiderable town in itself.
In the next place, it is the metropolis of a commonwealth increasing
in wealth and population at a greater ratio than any of the old
thirteen States. In the last apportionment for the House of Representatives
at Washington, the State of Pennsylvania gained a member of Congress
and the State of New York lost one.
Philadelphia sends out her railroads and canals in every direction.
On the north and west she reaches within easy distance her own
coal fields; deposits which are inexhaustible, and which contain
the only anthracite coal yet discovered in America, and from which
all American markets are supplied. Philadelphia is the chief seat
of this trade; a circumstance to which she owes the inestimable
advantage of cheap fuel, which has been an efficient cause of
her vast manufacturing superiority. The wharves of the Reading
Railroad at Philadelphia, one of the principal places for the
shipment of coal, are a curiosity in themselves, well worthy the
attention of a stranger.
In manufactures, Philadelphia is far before any other city
in America. Every variety of article, large or small, civil or
military, intended for use or ornament, is produced here. She
is the centre of trade for the manufacture of gas-fittings, her
large establishments in this department being the wonder of all
who see them. Nowhere else are wrought-iron tubes for conveying
gas made on the same scale. The manufacturers of leaden pipe for
the whole country reside here. In the production of paper-hangings
and umbrellas it has long been conceded that no other city approaches
her. One manufactory for paper-hangings extends an entire square
in length. On the corner of Fifth and Cherry Streets, stands an
immense and symmetrical structure, a monument to the taste, enterprise,
and great business energy of its proprietors, in which several
hundred hands are constantly employed in the production of the
most beautiful fabrics, military goods, coach trimmings, laces,
ribbons, embroideries, &c. &c. Every imaginable article
composed of iron is manufactured in this city. The locomotives
of Philadelphia are known on every railroad in the United States,
and on many in Europe; and the car-wheels produced here are not
less esteemed. It is said of one of our locomotive establishments,
that it has the largest and best arranged workshops
in this country, and when fully occupied employs over 1400 hands,
and it has turned out three complete locomotives in
one week. Its capacity is fully equal to 150 per year. The
steam-engine manufactories of this city for stationary engines,
and for steamships, are known over the world. The engines for
the steam-frigate Mississippi, among the few really successful
ones in the service of the United States, was made at a well-known
establishment in Philadelphia. The manufacture of superior stoves
is also carried on to a very large extent.
In the lesser articles made from iron, such as axes, saws,
pitchforks, cutlery, surgical instruments, nails, screws, hinges,
she is without a rival.
Paper of all kinds, woollen goods, prints, calicoes, and especially
carpets, and boots and shoes, are staple productions; and it is
affirmed that there are more fine shoes and boots made in Philadelphia
annually than in all New England. Carriage-building and harness-making
are also carried on very extensively; in both these departments,
Philadelphians carried off the prize at the London exhibition.
The Delaware bounds Philadelphia on the east, while the Schuylkill
winds its way through the heart of the city. By the former, Philadelphia
is put in communication with the ocean; by both, in addition to
her railroads, she finds access to the rich mineral and agricultural
products of the interior of Pennsylvania, Maryland, New York,
and of the far West. The coasting trade of this city is the largest
of any of the American cities. Of the amount of her foreign commerce
no true notion can be formed from the business transactions at
her own custom-house. The facilities of transportation
from New York are such as to induce Philadelphia merchants to
avail themselves of the proximity to the ocean of that port for
the introduction of their goods; immense quantities of which are
transported at once, with the original case unopened, except so
far as the revenue officers require them to be opened, from the
ship in New York to the counting-house of their owners in Philadelphia.
Philadelphia has for years been considered the great distributing
mart of the United States, and it is not too much to say that
the north side of Market Street exhibits some of the most magnificent
stores that have ever been erected.
Philadelphia is the medical capital of the country. She has
not less than five first class medical colleges of the old school;
while the homoeopathic, the water cure party, and the vegetarians
have all flourishing schools. The medical literature of the country
centres here. While her law, miscellaneous, and school-book publishing
houses are among the largest in the United States.
If the traveller is not bent on business, but is in pursuit
of elegant recreation, let him stop in Philadelphia, and he will
be amply rewarded. The Academy of Natural Sciences, on Broad Street,
next to the La Pierre Rouse, is an institution unapproached by
any other in America. The second, if not the first, ornithological
collection in the world is there. It contains the late Dr. Morton's
invaluable collection of skulls, certainly the most extensive
collection in the world, besides a valuable scientific library,
and numerous rare specimens in zoology and mineralogy. The Wagner
Institute, lately incorporated, contains wagon loads of collections
for the study of mineralogy, geology, and botany. On Fifth near
Chestnut Street stands the Philadelphia Library, founded by Dr.
Franklin, one of the oldest and most extensive libraries in the
country. It contains nearly 65,000 volumes. Independence Hall,
in Chestnut above Fifth Street, where the Declaration of Independence
was signed, adorned with the original and remarkably exact portraits,
taken during their lives, of most of the distinguished characters,
American or foreign, who took part in the events of our revolutionary
period, offers attractions to the patriot and the student of history,
such as no other place can present.
The Pennsylvania Hospital, it might almost be called world-renowned,
and the Eastern Penitentiary, also known throughout the best portion
of the world, draw hither many visitors. The Fairmount Water Works
and Laurel Hill, and the beautiful summer excursion on the Schuylkill,
between the two, have enchanted many strangers.
On Chestnut Street below Broad Street, stands the beautiful
building appropriated to the United States Mint, where the curious
and nice operation of coining may almost always be seen. And further
down Chestnut Street, above Tenth, the Academy of Fine Arts offers
to the visitor at all times a delightful entertainment. Many of
the largest productions of the well-known Benjamin West are there,
and there only, to be seen; among them the famous picture of Death
on the Pale Horse.
The Girard College, principally composed of marble, is the
grandest building in America, and the most richly endowed charitable
institution, by a single individual, in the world. The Custom-house,
the Farmers and Mechanics' Bank, the Bank of North America, the
Girard Bank, and the .Exchange are public buildings which would
attract notice in any part of the world.
The eccentric John Randolph, of Roanoke, when in Europe, wrote
to his friends in America that nothing impressed him so much as
the grandeur of the European architecture. "It seems,"
said he, "as though I had never seen anything in America
but hutsunless it were the Capitol at Washington and the
Bank of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia."
The new gas works of the city, on the Schuylkill, below Gray's
Ferry, are on a scale never before attempted in this country,
if in any other. Those curious in such matters could not do better
than pay them a visit.
The neighborhood of Philadelphia produces in abundance a delicate
and luxuriant grass, of which cattle are very fond, to which is
ascribed the superiority of the milk, butter, and cream used herea
superiority so marked that the most unobservant traveller never
fails to notice it. In like manner the beef of the Philadelphia
market is always preferred to any other. The hotels are not, as
a general thing, on the gigantic scale of the New York houses.
They are, however, quite as comfortable, and always offer to the
stranger a table spread with delicacies from a market proverbial
for its excellence.
But the steam-whistle gives token that the iron-horse is ready
for a start, and we must hurry away; but, before we part, we can
assure the traveller that no matter how often he repeats his visit
to Philadelphia, we can continually exhibit to him new scenes
and matters of interest. Her charitable institutions, for instance,
of which we have made no mention in the foregoing sketch, except
the Girard College, embrace the greatest variety of objects, are
endowed with exceeding liberality, and are conducted with a degree
of intelligent faithfulness and zeal which make them models. Her
public schools also are of the first order.
The line of road from Philadelphia to Pittsburg has three owners.
First, the state of Pennsylvania owns that part extending from
the city to Dillersville, one mile above Lancaster, consisting
of a double track, in length 69 miles. At Dillersville, the Harrisburg,
Portsmouth, Mount Joy and Lancaster Railroad commences, and continues
from thence to Harrisburg, a distance of 36 miles. At Harrisburg,
the Pennsylvania Railroad commences, and completes the line from
thence to Pittsburg, a distance of 248 miles.
The cars are drawn from the depot by horse or mule power, out
Market Street, and across the Schuylkill Permanent Bridge, at
the west end of which they take the locomotive. The river Schuylkill
was, until lately, the western boundary of the city, as laid out
by its founder, William Penn. The act of consolidation of 1854
extends the boundary westwardly to Cobb's Creek, a distance of
3½ miles. The waters of this beautiful river rise in the
mountains of Schuylkill County, which contain the treasures of
anthracite coal, peculiar to this State, millions of tons of which
annually find their way to tide water on its bosom, and upon the
Reading Railroad along its banks, whence it is carried to other
cities and towns, in several States of the Union.
After taking steam we pass up the Schuylkill in full view of
the light and graceful WIRE BRIDGE on the right, the FAIRMOUNT
WATER WORKS, and the beautiful fall of water over the DAM, as
well as the placid sheet which it makes as far as the eye can
reach. The new bridge at Girard Avenue may also be seen, and the
GIRARD COLLEGE, with snowy whiteness and its magnificent marble
columns and marble roof, overlooking the city and surrounding
country for miles. The State locomotive engine house is immediately
on the road to the right, a few hundred yards from the place of
starting. Thence passing through a deep cut we curve round and
pursue nearly a westerly course, leaving the city and its busy
multitudes behind. In rounding the curve to the left we may observe
the West Philadelphia Water Works (now belonging to the city),
being a very high iron column cylinder, encircled by a neat and
tasty iron stairway, winding around it from its base to its summit.
At a distance of 3 miles from the depot we pass HESTONVILLE on
our left, then LIBERTYVILLE, and ATHENSVILLE, and arrive at WHITE
HALL, 10 miles from the city. Just before arriving at this station,
we may observe, to the left, a large building with an extensive
lawn, and a handsome wood between it and the railroad. This is
the Haverford College, belonging to an association of Friends,
and conducted by them, where a classical education may be obtained
by the youth of that denomination, but which is not confined exclusively
to them. This college is in Delaware County. It was at Chester,
on the Delaware River, in this county, where William Penn landed
in November, 1682, with his cargo of English Quakers, in the ship
Welcome. There were Pemberton, Moore, Yardley, Wain, Lloyd, Pusey,
Chapman, Wood, Hollingsworth, Sharpless, Rhoades, Hall, Gibbons,
Bonsall, Sellers, and Claypoole, whose ancestor, Cromwell, not
many years before, ruled the destinies of the British empire.
The descendants of those men have become numerous in Philadelphia,
Chester, and Delaware counties. The birthplace of the celebrated
Benjamin West is a few miles south of the Haverford schoolhis
ancestors accompanied Penn on his second visit to Pennsylvania,
and were also Quakers. Benjamin was reared in the faith and profession
of his ancestorsa profession from which he never swerved
when his genius commanded the flattery of courts, and honor from
kings and princes. It is recorded of him, by Galt, that at the
age of seven he made a drawing, in red and black ink, of an infant
niece, of whose cradle he had the charge, and whose sweet smile
in her sleep excited his imitative powers, though he had never
seen a picture or engraving. With this precocious sign of inherent
talent the boy's mother was charmed, and her admiration and encouragement
confirmed his taste. At school, even before he had learned to
write, pen and ink became his cherished favorites; and birds,
flowers, and animals adorned his juvenile portfolio. It is a tradition
of the family that the father, having sent Benjamin out to plough,
missed him from his work, and found him under a cokeberry bush,
where he had sketched the portraits of a whole family so strikingly
that they were instantly recognized. Another anecdote is related
of himthat one day at Rome (where he had gone to complete
his studies), while his master had stepped out a moment, West
slyly painted a fly on the work on which his master was engaged.
The master came in, resumed his work, and made several attempts
to scare away the fly. At last he exclaimed: "Ah ! it is
that American." We next pass the stations of VILLA NOVA (a
Roman Catholic college), MORGAN'S CORNER, and the EAGLE, and arrive
at the PAOLI, 20 miles on our journey. The train frequently stops
here for refreshments. Near this place 150 Americans, under General
Wayne, were killed and wounded on the night of the 20th of September,
1777, by a detachment of English under General Gray. This action
is frequently called the Paoli massacre. General Wayne was surprised
in the night by a superior force, and no quarter shown. "On
the 20th of September, 1817, being the 40th anniversary of the
massacre, a monument was erected over the remains of those gallant
men by the Republican Artillerists of Chester County, aided by
the contributions of their fellow-citizens. It is composed of
white marble, and is a pedestal surmounted by a pyramid. Upon
the four sides of the body of the pedestal are appropriate inscriptions."
The country through which we have passed is thickly dotted with
neat farm-houses and barns, and all sorts of comfortable outhouses
for pigs, and poultry, sheep, cattle, and horses. The large fields
of grain and grass which greet our eyes in the summer season,
the herds of cattle, and flocks of sheep, everywhere to be seen,
indicate great agricultural thrift in the inhabitants of Delaware,
Montgomery, and Chester counties, through which we have been passing.
The small whitewashed stone houses which we may observe at a short
distance from the dwellings, and generally situated under the
outspreading branches of some ancient oak or willow, with a crystal
brook stealing away through the luxuriant grass, are spring-houses.
We may observe the patient cows standing around, with their white
udders swollen with milk, waiting to yield it to the milk-maid's
pail, from which it is poured into earthen or tin pans, and those
are placed in the clear cool water of those houses where the rich
cream is formed for the butter. From these houses is taken the
far-famed Philadelphia butter, superior to that, it is said, of
any city in the world. The secret of its superiority lies in the
green grass peculiar to this rolling country, and the cool springs
of water that rise from its hills. No prairie land, how rich soever
it may be, can ever produce butter equal to that made in the rolling
counties around the city of Philadelphia. Soon after passing the
Paoli, we commence descending the valley hill, and now breaks
upon the view of the passengers one of the most picturesque scenes
that can be found on any road in the Union. This is the celebrated
Chester County limestone valley. This valley extends easterly
and westerly some 20 miles in length, and averages 2 miles in
width. It is skirted on both sides with high hills covered with
timber, from which issue innumerable springs of pure water, converted
into perpetual fountains in the valley, and affording a never-failing
supply for man and beast, at the house and barn. This valley is
noted for its fertility and beautiful farms. As the cars descend
the hill, on an easy grade, the passenger may take in at one view
many miles of this magnificent panorama, interspersed with comfortable
and neat farm-houses, spacious barns, and other necessary buildings.
Hundreds of fields of waving grain, the deep green corn, and luxuriant
timothy and clover, pass in review before him. Here, the farmers
may be seen driving their "teams a-field," and there,
cattle, horses, and sheep, feeding in the pasture, or reclining
under the trees. This valley supplies the finest beef for the
Philadelphia and New York markets. The cattle are brought when
poor from the regions of the north and west, and fattened here
in the rich pastures of Pennsylvania. The beef of Philadelphia,
like the butter, is nowhere else to be found. After running along
the southern side of the valley for several miles, and passing
the STEAMBOAT, OAKLAND, and the intersection of the Valley Railroad
leading to Norristown, we arrive at DOWNINGTOWN, a distance of
33 miles from the city. This is a quiet little rural village,
to the right, which has grown up on the Philadelphia and Lancaster
turnpike, which passes through it. The north branch of the Brandy
wine Creek, over which the cars have just passed, also flows through
it. This stream commemorates the battle of Brandywine, which took
place in 1777, between the English, under General Cornwallis,
and the Americans, under General Washington, at Chad's Ford, some
15 miles below this place. Its pure waters, that flowed between
the contending armies, were dyed by the blood of the combatants,
and bore witness to their deadly struggles. And if the palm of
victory be awarded to the side that made the most widows and orphans
on that bloody day, as is usually the case, we must admit that
the English won the prize. The fiercest part of the battle took
place around the Birmingham Friends' meeting-house, a few miles
farther up the stream. The combat raged furiously at this place,
and many lives were lost. Missiles of war, and other evidences
of the battle, were long after to be found here. The thunder of
the cannon, and the roar of the small-arms without were
in strange contrast, as a mode of settling disputes, with the
still small voice within, by which the Friends profess
to be guided in adjusting differences with one another. But however
justifiable we may think the cause of it to be, still we must
"War is a game, which,
Were their subjects wise, kings would not play at."
Soon after leaving DOWNINGTOWN, and passing GALLAGHERVILLE
(a small village to the right), and the CALN station, the road
crosses the valley to the northern side, and passes over the west
branch of the Brandywine, near Coatesville (a small village to
the left) on a bridge 75 feet high, and stretching across a chasm
850 feet. The character of the country is still the same. Agriculture
is here carried to a high state of perfection, and every "rood
of ground maintains its man." We come now to MIDWAY, a small
neat village and station near the high bridge. Pursuing our course
on the north side of the valley, we pass CHANDLER'S and stop at
PARKESBURG to water, 44 miles from the city. This is a neat village
of 400 inhabitants, containing a large hotel and the machine shops
of the State. It is the offspring of the Columbia Railroad, and
is the residence of its superintendent. Chester County, through
which we are now passing, is one of the most fertile in the State.
The bounties of Providence are here distributed with an unsparing
hand. In 1850, there were raised in this county 1,339,446 bushels
of corn, 547,498 of wheat, 1,145,712 of oats, 96,315 tons of hay,
2,092,019 lbs. of butter. The quantity of corn surpassed that
of any county in the State except Lancaster. This county is the
birthplace of Chief Justice McKean, who was also Governor of the
State for nine years. It was also the birthplace and residence
of General Anthony Wayne. The train continues on the north side
of the valley, which is here sensibly diminished in width, and
passes PENNINGTONVILLE and CHRISTIANA, two thriving villages which
have sprung up within a few years on the railroad. CHRISTIANA,
which is just over the line in Lancaster County, has been rendered
conspicuous by a riot that occurred there in 1851, occasioned
by some Maryland slave owners attempting to arrest their runaway
negroes. The latter having tasted the sweets of liberty for some
time, and being joined by their friends in the neighborhood, resisted
their claims, and resolved to fight for their liberty. The melancholy
result was, that a Mr. Gorsuch, from Maryland, was killed on the
spot, and one or two others were severely wounded. A number of
those who desired the freedom of the negroes, of both white and
colored, were indicted for treason by the United States, but the
trial resulted in their acquittal. We now come to the GAP, so
called on account of the opening in the mine hill at this place,
through which the railroad passes. This is the highest point above
tide water on the State road, being 560 feet. At Christiana we
diverge from the beautiful Chester County valley which we have
traversed a distance of 20 miles, and at the Gap we enter the
no less beautiful PEQUEA VALLEY of Lancaster County. Passing KINSERS,
LEMON PLACE, GORDONSVILLE, and BIRD-IN-HAND through an unsurpassed
agricultural section, and crossing the beautiful CONESTOGA, we
enter LANCASTER CITY, 68 miles from Philadelphia, 38 from Harrisburg,
and 286 from Pittsburg. Probably no country in the world can present
a finer picture of agricultural prosperity than that through which
we have passed from Philadelphia to Lancaster. Taking 20 miles
on each side of the railroad between those cities, we have 2720
square miles. There being 640 acres in a square mile, the quantity
in the whole would be 1,740,800 acres. This would probably average
$85 per acre, making the value of such a strip of land nearly
ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY MILLIONS OF DOLLARS. The railroad between
those cities cost about FOUR MILLIONS OF DOLLARS. Before this
road was built, this strip might have been purchased for
LANCASTER CITY is the fourth city of Pennsylvania with respect
to population. It contains about 15,000 inhabitants. It is the
capital of Lancaster County, which is not equalled in the value
of agricultural productions by any in the State. The oldest turnpike
in the United State's has its western terminus at this place,
and connects it with the city of Philadelphia. It was incorporated
as a city in 1818. The inhabitants of this city, owing to the
facilities afforded by the railroad, have of late years become
aroused from their lethargy, and have commenced the manufacture
of various articles. They have one or two anthracite furnaces
in full blast, several large cotton steam factories, locomotive
works, and various other manufacturing establishments. They have
also water works to supply the citizens with a constant supply
of fresh water, and have become so far refined as to have their
streets and their houses lighted with gas. A new county prison
has been erected at a cost of $110,000, and a new court-house
at a cost of $100,000. The inhabitants are chiefly of German descent.
In 1850, Lancaster County, which contains only 950 square miles,
produced 1,803,312 bushels of Indian corn, 1,365,111 of wheat,
1,578,321 of oats, 96,134 tons of hay, and 1,907,843 lbs. of butter.
The crop of oats excelled that of any other county in the United
States; that of wheat, any other except Monroe County, New York;
that of corn, any other county in the State. This county is famous
for its large barns and large fat horses. At DILLERSVILLE, 2 miles
west of Lancaster, we leave the State Railroad (which continues
on to Columbia) and take the Harrisburg and Lancaster road, which
intersects the former at this place.
LANDISVILLE, the next station, is merely, a stopping place.
MOUNT JOY is a small village in a rich agricultural district.
Near this town is a flourishing Female Seminary. Elizabethtown
station is near the old Village of that name on the turnpike,
to the right of the railroad. At CONEWAGO, we cross the creek
of that name, which forms the boundary of Lancaster and Dauphin
Counties. MIDDLETOWN, the next station, is a place of some note.
It is situated at the mouth of Swatara Creek, on the Susquehanna,
9 miles from Harrisburg. There the Union Canal intersects the
Pennsylvania Canal. The town contains 1,200 inhabitants, and has
a bank and a newspaper office. Leaving Middletown, we continue
our course on the banks of the Susquehanna, which now presents
its broad surface to our view, interspersed with islands and eddies,
and rafts of lumber from the pine regions above. The canal from
Columbia to Pittsburg will now form a conspicuous object on a
great part of the route. The sound of the boatman's horn may frequently
be heard echoing down the valleys and over the hills, reminding
us of the lines of the poet
O! boatman, wind that horn again,
For never did the listening air,
Upon its joyous bosom, bear
So wild, so soft, so sweet a strain!
What though thy notes are sad and few,
By every simple boatman blown,
Yet is each pulse to nature true,
And melody in every tone.
We now arrive at HARRISBURG, the capital of Pennsylvania, beautifully
situated on the east bank of the Susquehanna River, 105 miles
from Philadelphia, and 248 from Pittsburg. The Capitol is a handsome
brick building, occupying a conspicuous position on a lofty eminence,
which affords a delightful view of the broad Susquehanna, studded
with verdant islands and spanned by handsome bridges, with the
Kittatinny Mountain in the background. Its population is
about 9,000. The valley in which this town is situated, is fertile
and productive, yielding its hundredfold reward to the husbandman.
Harrisburg has applied to become a city. Being the capital of
the large State of Pennsylvania, it has long enjoyed an
intercourse with our most intelligent citizens from all parts
of the State, rendering its society quite intellectual. Several
railroads centre here, giving facilities for communication with
all parts of the State. Besides the railway to Pittsburg and Philadelphia,
there is the Dauphin and Susquehanna, the York and Cumberland,
and the Cumberland Valley, which are finished. Then there is the
North Central, up the Susquehanna to Sunbury, and the Lebanon
Valley Railroad to Reading, not yet completed. The inhabitants
of this capital have also caught the spirit of the age, and are
in a fair way to render their town conspicuous for manufacturing
purposes. They have also their water-works and gas-works. At this
place commences the Pennsylvania Railroad, which we now take,
and pass rapidly through a highly cultivated section, having the
river on one side and the canal on the other, to ROCKVILLE, where
we cross the Susquehanna on a beautiful bridge, 3,670 feet in
length, 51½ miles above Harrisburg. The large building
on the high eminence to the right, about 1 mile from the town,
is the STATE LUNATIC ASYLUM, recently erected, reflecting much
credit on the State for thus humanely providing for this unfortunate
class of our population. The passengers, in crossing this great
bridge, should not fail to take a view of the scenery from about
its centre. It is of the most magnificent character.
The Susquehanna Bridge was commenced in 1847 . The first contract
was abandoned, and the masonry re-let to Messrs. Holman &
Simons, of Harrisburg, through whose energy, aided by the exertions
of Robert McAllister, Esq., of Juniata County, the whole was completed
by December, 1848. Some of the stone was boated by McAllister
for a distance of 50 miles, and delivered ready dressed for the
work. The superstructure is upon the Heur plan, and was erected
by Daniel Stone, who also built the new bridge across the Schuylkill
at Market Street. In March, 1849, six spans of the bridge, while
in an unfinished condition, were destroyed by a tornado, which
was so violent as to blow the water from the river to a height
of 30 feet, and carried away timbers 40 feet long and of great
weight, by the force of the wind alone.
On the western bank of the river may be seen the Blue Mountain,
which, commencing in the southern part of the State, near the
Maryland line, continues in an irregular course to the northeast,
broken by various streams which have forced a passage through
it. The celebrated Delaware Water Gap is found in this range,
the whole of which is characterized by its bold and rugged escarpments,
and the hardness of its rocks.
At the west end of the bridge, the traveller enters the county
of Perry, the surface of which is broken by numerous ridges and
valleys, having a general parallelism to the Alleghany Back Bone
range, but of limited extent and of irregular character. The lands
in this county are not so productive as those which are found
east and south of it. The prevailing geological formation of the
valleys is the red shale, while the mountains exhibit the usual
characteristics of the sand stone, which are found upon every
ridge of any considerable elevation in the State.
The Cove station is so named from a very peculiar curve in
the range of the Cove Mountain, the summit of which recedes from
the river opposite the town of Dauphin, and approaches it again
The COVE station, 10 miles from Harrisburg, is not a point
of any business importance, but it furnishes an abundance of pure
water, and wood from the mountain sides.
The next object of interest is the point of rocks at the northern
extremity of the Cove Mountain; here the road is forced close
to the edge of the river, and a deep cut is encountered, which
has given much trouble, from slips of rock, but which is now safe.
The county road winds along the mountain at an elevation of sixty
feet above the railroad; it was cut out of the solid rock by the
Pennsylvania Railroad Company, who were required to make a new
road in place of the old one, occupied by the bed of the railroad.
On the opposite side of the river in Dauphin County, is seen
the bold elevation called Peters' Mountain, once apparently connected
with Cove Mountain, but now separated by the Susquehanna.
Passing the point of rocks by a sharp curve to the west, the
traveller soon crosses the beautiful SHERMAN'S CREEK, and his
ears are saluted with the heavy reverberations of the forge, the
roar of the water-fall, and the busy noises of the rolling mills.
The evidences of industry and thrift are conspicuous in this locality,
and the enterprise of WILLIAM LOGAN FISHER has erected here a
monument durable as brass. Pig, bar, rolled, and hammered iron,
nails and spikes are the products of these works. Anthracite coal
is brought by canal from the Shamokin region, and various localities,
some of which are very distant, are laid under contribution for
the best varieties of ores.
One mile above Duncannon is seen the mouth of the Juniata;
its precise locality may be distinguished by the smaller of the
two bridges, which are upon the right. The large bridge crosses
the Susquehanna, and is used as a common road bridge, and also
as a towing path, by means of which the boats navigating the main
line and the Susquehanna division of the Pennsylvania Canal, are
enabled to cross the river in the pool of water known to lumbermen
as Green's Dam.
Duncan's Island, for many years previous to the decease of
Mrs. Duncan, a well-known and much frequented place of summer
resort, is bounded by the Juniata, the Susquehanna, and a small
channel on the north side connecting these two streams. It embraces
several hundred acres of excellent farming land, and a considerable
population is found upon the island brought together chiefly by
the lumber trade, which is very active at this place during the
freshets of the Susquehanna. Dealers in lumber from the principal
cities and from the various towns on the river below Harrisburg,
resort to the island to make their purchases, and secure the pick
of the market.
Duncan's Island was a pleasant spot, and those who in former
years made it their resort for recreation, and who have enjoyed
the society of the hospitable mistress of the mansion, and of
the amiable Julia, who have sat beneath the foliage of the majestic
forest trees, or rambled along the streams or in the gardens
"When opening roses breathing sweets diffuse,
And soft carnations shower their balmy dews
Where lilies smile in robes of virgin white,
The thin undress of superficial light,
And varied tulips show so dashing gay,
Blushing in bright diversities of day,"
will be saddened by the recollection that these pleasures are
past never to return.
Passing along a rocky side hill for a distance of nearly two
miles, the train usually stops at the AQUEDUCT. Here passengers
for the Susquehanna region are transferred to the packet-boat,
which, after receiving its cargo of human freight, crosses the
Aqueduct, and is towed by horses to Williamsport, on the west
branch of the Susquehanna.
Leaving our friends in the packet to the enjoyment of their
bilge-water and mosquitoes, and to all the comforts of narrow
berths, crying babies, and the chances of suffocation, enjoyments
which a shower of rain is sure greatly to enhance, we will bid
adieu to the blue hills of the Susquehanna, and its broad shining
waters, and wend our way to the sources of the gently flowing
Juniata, where they gush forth in copious streams front the broad
bosom of the Alleghanies.
The next station is BAILEYSBURG. Mahoney Ridge and Limestone
Ridge approach the river near this point from the west.
NEWPORT is a thriving town, six miles northeast of Bloomfield,
the county seat; it is a place of considerable business, the shipments
being large both by railroad and canal. It is the second town
in population in Perry County. The Little Buffalo Creek empties
into the Juniata at Newport.
Half a mile above Newport is the terminus of Middle Ridge,
and at the distance of a mile the railroad crosses the Big Buffalo
Creek by means of a stone viaduct of five spans.
MILLERSTOWN is the last station in Perry County; it is readily
distinguished by the neat station-house, erected by the Pennsylvania
Railroad Company, at the end of the bridge.
Perry County is bounded on the northwest by the Great Tuscarora
Mountain, through which the Juniata forces its way about one mile
above Millerstown, leaving the deep rocky channel worn
"By ever flowing streams-arteries of earth,
That, widely-branching, circulate its blood,
Whose ever throbbing pulses are the tides."
At the Tuscarora Mountain the railroad, the general course
of which for several miles has been but a few degrees west of
north, turns suddenly to the southwest, following for several
miles the base of the mountain.
Eight miles north of Millerstown was formerly a remarkable
natural phenomenon, known as the roaring spring, the waters of
which rose with great force below the surface of the river,
causing a violent ebullition accompanied with noise. This spring
is no longer visible; the unsparing Progress of improvement has
entombed it beneath the rocky embankments of the road bed.
We are now on the north side of the Tuscarora Mountain, in
the valley of the same name, and in the County of Juniata.
MEXICO, forty-five miles from Harrisburg, is not the celebrated
city of the Aztecs, and has never been distinguished by any of
the sanguinary battles which marked the progress of Scott's campaign;
but it is not Without its historical associations. Opposite Mexico,
some white men, in attempting to dig a cellar for a house, were
shot by Indians; and a terrible war was once waged between two
tribes, which originated in a quarrel between some Indian children
about grasshoppers, and was known as the Grasshopper War. Sensible,
was it not? Quite as sensible as the origin of many of the wars
which have distracted nations, boasting of greater advances in
civilization and refinement.
PERRYSVILLE, the depot of Tuscarora Valley, is at the mouth
of Tuscarora Creek. A flourishing Academy is located in the valley,
about eight miles distant.
One mile above Perrysville, the road passes along the face
of Law's Ridge, an extremely steep and rocky bluff, consisting
of variegated shales and sandstones, which present. a most singular
appearance, the strata being bent and curved in every direction,
sometimes forming semicircles.
From the point of Law's Ridge, the town of MIFFLIN, the county
seat of Juniata, is in view, on the opposite side of the river,
and in a few minutes the cars stop at PATTERSON House, built by
Messrs. Fallon & Wright, of Philadelphia, and is now owned
by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. They intend to make a first
rate house hereto accommodate travellers. The town of PATTERSON
does not improve so rapidly as was anticipated, although one of
the machine shops of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company is located
at this place; very few improvements have been made except by
the Company. The row of brown frame houses on the hill south of
the road, was built by the Company for the accommodation of its
Four miles west of Mifflin, the road enters the gloomy and
contracted passage between the Black Log on the south, and the
Shade Mountain on the north, known as the Long Narrows. Previous
to the construction of the road, there was no habitation on the
south side of the Narrows, and but one public house on the north
side. This house was in such a dilapidated condition that, it
is said, the engineers, who made the location, were compelled
in rainy weather to sit up in bed with umbrellas hoisted, to protect
themselves from shower baths, which they had not stipulated for
as a part of the accommodations to be furnished. We are not able
to inform our readers whether an extra charge was made for the
unusual comforts, but it is supposed that "mine host"
furnished the baths gratuitously.
At the west end of the Narrows is the large and flourishing
town of LEWISTOWN (61 miles from Harrisburg, 187 from Pittsburg),
the most important in the valley of the Juniata, the county seat
of Mifflin County, and the outlet of the great and fertile valley
of Kishicoquillas. Iron ore of excellent quality abounds in this
county; there are many iron works, and in the limestone districts
several curious caves containing stalactites. The lovely valley
in which Lewistown is situated, is a specimen of many similar
valleys that adorn this mountain region. It is not to be compared
with the. valley of Wyoming, of which the poet has sung in the
"On Susquehanna's side, fair Wyoming!
Although the wild flower on thy ruined wall,
And roofless homes, a sad remembrance bring
Of what thy gentle people did befall;
Yet thou wert once the loveliest land of all
That see the Atlantic wave their morn restore.
Sweet land! may I thy lost delights recall,
And paint thy GERTRUDE in her bowers of yore,
Whose beauty was the love of Pennsylvania's shore!"
The valley of Kishicoquillas has not had the advantage of being
celebrated in song, like its fair sister on the Susquehanna. But
although no Campbell has, in poetic page, rendered this valley
forever classical, and thrown around it the witcheries of its
own equally lovely GERTRUDES, it has had, nevertheless, what one
who knew him well has described, the best specimen of humanity
he ever met with, either white or red, viz: LOGAN, the
celebrated Indian chief. This noble Indian is identified with
the valley of Kishicoquillas in which Lewistown is situated, and,
although an unlettered red man of the forest, his celebrated speech
will be perpetuated in history as long as the beautiful poem,
the GERTRUDE of WYOMING, shall live in classic lore. "A resident
of the place boasts, not without some reason, that many circumstances
concur to make Lewistown a desirable resort for strangers. The
scenery is the finest in the world; we breathe the pure mountain
air. Our clear streams abound with fish, particularly trout. Our
forests are filled with game of every description; and Milliken's
Spring, on a farm adjoining the town, is ascertained to possess
all the medicinal qualities of the Bedford water, particularly
in bilious complaints."
Of Kishicokelas,[often spelled in this way] the Indian tradition
has preserved little but the name. Another friendly chief distinguished
in American annals, had his cabin for a number of years beside
a beautiful limestone spring, on Kishicoquillas Creek, a mile
or two above the wild gorge, where the creek passes Jack's Mountain.
This was Logan, the Mingo chief, whose eloquent speech is familiar
to every one. Logan was the son of Shikellimus, a chief of the
Cayugas. Mingo, or Mengwe, was the name given by the Delawares
to the Iroquois, or Six Nations.
The following anecdote was related by Judge Brown, the first
actual settler in Kishicoquillas Valley, and for many years one
of the Associate Judges of Mifin County:
"The first time I ever saw that spring," said the
old gentleman, "my brother, James Reed, and myself, had wandered
out of the valley in search of land, and finding it very good,
we were looking about for springs. About a mile from this we started
a bear, and separated to get a shot at him. I was travelling along,
looking about on the rising ground for the bear, when I came suddenly
upon the spring; and being dry, and more rejoiced to find so fine
a spring than to have killed a dozen bears, I set my rifle against
a bush, and rushed down the bank and laid down to drink. Upon
putting my head down, I saw reflected in the water on the opposite
side, the shadow of a tall Indian. I sprang to my rifle, when
the Indian gave a yell, whether for peace or war I was not just
then sufficiently master of my faculties to determine; but upon
my seizing my rifle and facing him, he knocked up the pan of his
gun, threw out the priming, and extended his open palm towards
me in token of friendship. After putting down our guns, we again
met at the spring and shook hands. This was Loganthe best
specimen of humanity I ever met with, either white or red.
He could speak a little English, and told me there was another
white hunter a little way down the stream, and offered to guide
me to his camp. There I first met Samuel Maclay. We remained together
in the valley a week, looking for springs and selecting lands,
and laid the foundation of a friendship which has never had the
Mr. Maclay and I visited Logan at his camp, at Logan Spring,
and Mr: M. and he shot at a mark for a dollar a shot. Logan lost
four or five rounds, and acknowledged himself beaten. When we
were about to leave him, he went into his hut and brought out
as many deerskins as he had lost dollars, and handed them to Mr.
M., who refused to take them, alleging that we had been his guests,
and had not come to rob him; that the shooting had been only a
trial of skill, and the bet merely nominal. Logan drew himself
up with great dignity, and said: 'Me bet to make you shoot your
bestme gentlemanand me take your dollar if me beat.'
So he was obliged to take the skins or affront our friend, whose
nice sense of honor would not allow him to receive even a flask
of powder in return.
"The next year," said the old gentleman, "I
brought my wife up and camped under a big walnut tree, on the
bank of Tea Creek, until I had built a cabin near where the mill
now stands, and have lived in the valley ever since. Poor Logan,"
and the big tears coursed each other down his cheeks, "soon
after went into the Alleghany, and I never saw him again."
The following additional incidents highly characteristic of
the benevolent chief were related by Mrs. Norris, a daughter of
Logan supported his family by killing deer, dressing the skins
and selling them to the whites. He had sold quite a parcel to
one De Young, who lived in Ferguson's Valley, below the gap. Tailors
in those days dealt extensively in buckskin breeches. Logan received
his pay, according to stipulation, in wheat. The wheat on being
taken to the mill was found so worthless that the miller refused
to grind it. Logan was much chagrined and attempted in vain to
obtain redress from the tailor. He then took the matter before
his friend Brown, then a magistrate, and on the judge's questioning
him as to the character of the wheat, Logan sought in vain to
find words to express the precise nature of the article, with
which the wheat was adulterated, but said that it resembled in
appearance the wheat itself. "It must have been cheat,"
said the judge. "Yoh," said Logan, "that very
good name for him." A decision was awarded in Logan's favor,
and a writ given to Logan to hand to the constable, which he was
told would bring him the money for his skins. But the untutored
Indian, too uncivilized to be dishonest, could not comprehend
by what magic this little piece of paper would force the tailor
against his will to pay for the skins. The judge took down his
own commission with the arms of the king upon it, and explained
to him the first principles and operations of civil law. "Law
good," said Logan; "make rogues pay." But how much
more simple and efficient was the law which the Great Spirit had
impressed upon his heart, to do as he would be done by.
When a sister of Mrs. Norris (afterwards Mrs. Gen. Potter;
was just beginning to learn to walk, her mother happened to express
a regret that she could not get a pair of shoes to give more firmness
to her little step. Logan soon after asked Mrs. Brown to let the
little girl go and spend the day at his cabin. The cautious heart
of a mother was alarmed at such a proposition, but she knew the
delicacy of an Indian's feelings, and she knew Logan too, and
with secret reluctance, but apparent cheerfulness she complied
with his request. The hours of the day wore very slowly away;
night approached, and the little one had not returned. But just
as the sun was going down, the trusty chief was seen coming down
the path with his charge, and in a moment wore the little one
trotted into her mother's arms, proudly exhibiting a beautiful
pair of moccasins on her little feet, the product of Logan's skill.
Such was the man whose whole family was afterwards barbarously
murdered on the Ohio below Wheeling, by some white savages, without
a shadow of provocation. It was not long after that act, that
his consent was asked by a messenger with wampum, to a treaty
with Lord Dunmore, on the Scioto in 1774. Logan delivered to the
messenger the following speech which is now well authenticated
to have been his own, and not composed, as had been suspected,
by Mr. Jefferson.
"I appeal to any white man to say, if ever he entered
Logan's cabin hungry, and he gave him not meat; if ever he came
cold and naked and he clothed him not. During the course of the
last long and bloody war, Logan remained idle in his cabin, an
advocate for peace. Such was my love for the whites, that my countrymen
pointed as they passed and said, 'Logan is the friend of white
men.' I had even thought to have lived with you but for the injuries
of one man. Col. Cresop, the last spring, in cold blood and unprovoked,
murdered all the relations of Logan, not even sparing my women
and children. There runs not a drop of my blood in the veins of
any living creature. This called on me for revenge. I have sought
it. I have killed many. I have fully glutted my vengeance for
my country. I rejoice at the beams of peace; but do not harbor
a thought that mine is the joy of fear. Logan never felt fear.
He will not turn on his heel to save his life. Who is there, then,
to mourn for Logan ? Not one."
Logan was the son of Shikellimus, a Cayuga chief, who dwelt
at Shamokin in 1742, and was converted to Christianity under the
preaching of the Moravian missionaries. Shikellimus had a high
esteem for James Logan, the secretary of the province, and most
probably had his son baptized with the Christian rites by the
McVEYTOWN, also called WAYNESBURG, is situated on the canal
11 miles above Lewistown. It has been incorporated as a borough.
At NEWTON HAMILTON, the river makes a horseshoe bond, while
the road cuts across the neck greatly reducing the distance, but
encountering considerable rock excavation. At the west side of
the bend the road crosses the Juniata on a bridge 70 feet above
the water, and at a considerable elevation above the canal and
aqueduct. The river at this place forms the boundary between the
counties of Mifflin and Huntingdon.
MT. UNION, 85 miles from Harrisburg and 162 from Pittsburg,
in Huntingdon County, is at the entrance of the gap of Jack's
Mountain. Passengers are conveyed in stages to Shirleysburg and
other towns in the southern part of the county.
The gap of Jack's Mountain presents a peculiarly wild and rugged
appearance. The sides of the mountain are almost entirely destitute
of vegetation, and covered with immense masses of gray and time-worn
rocks. At the foot of the mountain is the village of Jackstown.
A few years since, it was announced in the newspapers that an
awful conflagration had entirely destroyed the village of Jackstown,
not a single house having been left standing. The calamity
would not have appeared quite so distressing if the writer had
stated the fact, that the only house in the village was a double
house, built of stone, the roof of which was consumed.
MAPLETON is the depot for Hare's Valley, on the north of which
is the range of the famous Sideling Hill, well known to travellers
on the National Road between Hancock and Cumberland.
West of Sideling Hill is the BROAD TOP MOUNTAIN, an isolated
elevation containing a small and singular bituminous coal basin,
the veins of which are from one to four feet in thickness, of
good quality for steam generating purposes. A railroad is in progress
of construction, connecting this basin with the canal and railroad
MILL CREEK, ninety-one miles from Harrisburg, is the depot
of the agricultural products of the west end of Kishicoquillas
South of Mill Creek is a most singular topographical formation,
called Trough Creek Valley, formed by Sideling Hill and Terrace
Mountain, which unite at the south side of the river in a ridge
of sufficient elevation to turn the courses of the streams to
the south; after many miles, the waters are again returned to
the north by uniting with the Raystown Branch, which empties into
the main Juniata a short distance above Mill Creek.
Although the scenery along the Juniata is characterized by
great beauty, it is probable that no portion of it is more diversified
and picturesque, than that which is presented to the eye of the
traveller in the vicinity of Huntingdon. Retracing his journey
in imagination, he will
"Hail in each crag a friend's familiar face,
And clasp the mountain in his mind's embrace."
Huntingdon County is surpassed by few, if any, in the variety
and richness of its mineral deposits, or in the fertility of its
valleys. This county, previous to the separation of Blair, contained
sixteen furnaces, twenty-four forges, and one rolling-mill.
Huntingdon County was first settled in 1749; its early history
is similar to that of the neighboring counties, being characterized
by Indian depredations, and feats of endurance and valor on the
part of the settlers.
The stream which empties into the Juniata at the town of Huntingdon,
is called Standing Stone, from a remarkable stone, for many years
held sacred by the Indians, and regarded by them as a sort of
HUNTINGDON, ninety-seven miles west of Harrisburg, is the county
seat. It was laid out previous to the Revolutionary war, and named
after Selina, the Countess of Huntingdon, who had been a liberal
patroness of the University of Pennsylvania.
Large quantities of lead ore were obtained in this county previous
to the war of the Revolution, chiefly from Sinking Valley, on
the south side of the Little Juniata, but the low price at which
lead can be brought from the western States, where it exists in
much greater abundance, has caused the abandonment of the mines
in this locality.
At PETERSBURG, the next station, the canal and railway, which
have been close companions for more than one hundred miles, part
company. The canal takes the course of the Frankstown Branch,
through Alexandria, Water Street, and Williamsburg to Hollidaysburg,
while the railroad follows the rugged path cut for it by the Little
Here mountain on mountain exultingly throws,
Through storm, mist, and snow, its black crags to the skies;
In their shadows, the sweets of the valleys repose,
While streams, gay with verdure and sunshine, steal by.
TYRONE CITY is the next station on the Little Juniata, at the
mouth of Little Bald Eagle Creek, and one mile west of Tyrone
forges (owned by Lyon, Shorb & Co.). This flourishing town
has sprung up since the construction of the Pennsylvania Railroad,
and is rapidly increasing. It now contains about one thousand
inhabitants, several first rate hotels, a foundry, a machine shop,
planing mill, churches, &c. A plank road, five miles in length,
leading to Bald Eagle furnace, commences here. And charters have
been obtained for railroads to connect New York and Lake Erie
with the Pennsylvania Railroad at this point. It is already one
of the best stations on the roadcommanding a large share
of the business of Clearfield and Clarion Counties.
At Tyrone City the railroad leaves the deep gorge of the Little
Juniata, which it has followed through the mountains for the last
twelve miles, and enters Tuckahoe Valley. This valley lies between
the main range of the Alleghanies and Brush Mountain. Its general
width is about three miles, and its length about fifteen miles.
The southern side is rich limestone land, and the northern side
is clayey soil; the railroad runs nearly through its centre. On
the south side of this valley are extensive deposits of iron ore,
from which are drawn the supplies for Elizabeth, Blair, and Alleghany
furnaces and on the north side, the Alleghany Mountains contain
inexhaustible beds of bituminous coal.
TIPTON is the next station. A plank road extends across the
Alleghany Mountains a distance of thirteen miles, to the Clearfield
Lumber Company's extensive improvements, and within four miles
of the station. Coal has been found, which is said to be of an
excellent quality. A very large lumber business is now doing at
this station. A branch railroad, seven miles, is about to be constructed
to the Alleghany coal deposits. Two miles beyond is FOSTORIA,
called after William B. Poster, Jr., Vice President of the Pennsylvania
Railroad Company. At this point a very large lumber business has
been doing. Two miles beyond is BELL'S MILLS, a station at which
a large lumber business is doing. Mr. B. F. Bell, the proprietor
of the property at this point, an energetic and progressive man,
is sinking an extensive well, which has been carried to the depth
of 1200 feet through solid rock. Water has not yet been reached.
This is the last station till the cars stop at Altoona. At
Blair's furnace, three miles below Altoona, and within half a
mile of the railroad, is one of the richest banks of iron ore
in the State.
ALTOONA, the great centre of the operations of the road, contains
about three thousand inhabitants. Four years since its site was
marked only by an old log house, which may be seen near the railroad
in the western part of the town. It has been brought into existence
by the Company alone. At the head of Tuckahoe Valley, and at the
foot of the Alleghanies, it occupies a commanding and important
position in reference to the operations of the road. East of this
place the grades along the Juniata are about twenty feet to the
mile. Near Altoona, ascending, they are increased to ninety-five
feet to the mile. Of course the enlarged power required as well
as the changes of climate, the character of the country, and many
other circumstances, mark Altoona as a point where the nature
of the road undergoes an essential change, and these considerations
led to its being made the very heart of the Pennsylvania Railroad
Company's system. The workshops of the Company are already over
one thousand feet in length by seventy in width; about one thousand
persons are employed. There are also extensive car-houses, blacksmith
shops, carpenter shops, brass foundry, tin shop, paint shop, engine
repair shops, boiler shop, store house, iron foundry, &c.
&c., and two circular engine houses, one of which is six hundred
feet in circumference, ninety feet high, surmounted by a dome
of gigantic proportions. Here also is the house of the general
superintendent, Herman J. Lombaert, and the various offices for
the transaction of the business of the Company, and the LOGAN
HOTEL, recently pronounced by an intelligent English traveller
to be "better than any in Europe, and equal to any in America."
This sumptuous hotel gives to the traveller unusual interest
in the place. He knows that his keen appetite can be satisfied
here in the most luxurious manner. This house was erected by the
Company in order to insure to travellers the best accommodations
at all times.
From Altoona there is a plank road, and a branch railroad to
Hollidaysburg, distance seven miles, situated on the northern
turnpike leading from Harrisburg to Pittsburg, at the junction
of the Juniata division of the Pennsylvania, Canal. To this junction,
and to the creation of the county of Blair, of which this town
is the seat of justice, it owes a rapid growth, having sprung
in a few years from an obscure village of fifty inhabitants to
a thriving town of over three thousand population. Travellers
to Bedford Springs leave Altoona by the branch road, and take
stages at Hollidaysburg, passing over a plank road and turnpike
twenty-eight miles to that delightful watering place.
At this point we begin to climb the Alleghany Mountains, and
although we ascend them at the rate of 95 feet to the mile, until
we attain the height of 2,160 feet above tide water, yet we scarcely
perceive any diminution of speed in the iron horse. As we ascend
one mile after another, until we reach the tunnel, a distance
of 12 miles from Altoona, the traveller is enchanted with the
mountain scenery, and exhilarated with the idea that he is actually
climbing the tall Alleghany Mountains on a railroad, at the rate
of 20 to 30 miles an hour. This is one of the greatest triumphs
of science and genius.
After passing through the great tunnel, which is about three-quarters
of a mile in length, we arrive at GALLITZIN, named after Prince
Gallitzin, a Roman Catholic Priest of a noble Russian family,
who settled at Loretto, in Cambria County, in 1789, and died on
the 6th of May, 1840; a worthy and modest individual, who renounced
the honors of his station, and devoted his time and his means
to charitable purposes. It has been said of him:
"If his heart had been made of gold, he would have coined
it for the poor." The tunnel through the mountain is 3,670
feet long, and the height of earth above it is 210 feet. It is
handsomely arched throughout. Great difficulty was encountered
in making this enormous work, but every obstacle has been happily
overcome, and it now presents an object well calculated to excite
the wonder of strangers, and arouse the pride of Pennsylvanians.
Although passing under and through the Alleghany Mountains, at
a high rate of speed, there is not the slightest danger. Indeed,
accidents rarely occur where there is any appearance of peril,
for the additional precautions adopted at all such places are
almost absolute assurances of safety.
In descending the mountain on its western side, the traveller
is cheered by the frequent view of the rapid and gradually increasing
CONEAMAUGH, whose limped waters rise two miles west of the tunnel,
and join Stony Creek at Johnstown (a distance of 26 miles), and
form the main river along which the road continues until it passes
Laurel Hill and Chestnut Ridge. It may be seen sometimes on the
right and sometimes on the left, hastening down the mountain as
if in competition with the "iron horse." The traveller
will have its cheering company for fifty miles, to Blairsville
intersection. Three miles further we reach CRESSON, where Dr.
Jackson has a hotel, much frequented by persons from Pittsburg
during the summer, the scenery being beautiful, and the air always
cool and bracing. This hotel, when completed, must become a great
resort for citizens in the summer season. Its elevated situation
on the Alleghany Mountain must render the air delightful in the
hottest weather. The facilities of reaching the place without
fatigue, the thrice a day intercourse with each of the cities,
the mountain scenery; the trout fishing, and the many objects
of interest in the vicinity, combine to make it a desirable retreat.
The road here crosses the northern turnpike, on which, about a
mile distant, and at the junction of the old Portage road, is
the summit of the mountain and the town of that name. LILLYS,
at the foot of Plane No. 4, on the Portage, is a water station
in the woods.
PORTAGE, at the foot of Plane No. 2, is also inconsiderable.
WELLMORE adjoins the town of Jefferson, which has nearly a
thousand inhabitants. A plank road connects this place with Ebensburg,
the capital of Cambria County, and thence to Loretto, and northward
towards Clearfield. The trade of the large section of country
north of Willmore is thus brought to this point, and rapidly increasing,
it promises to make this an important station.
SUMMMERHILL, adjoining the old half-way house on the Portage
Road, is a wood and water station.
VIADUCT. At this point the road crosses the Conemaugh at the
Horseshoe Bend, by a stone viaduct of eighty feet span.
At CONEMAUGH we find an engine house, work shops, &c.,
of the Company, this being the western terminus of the Mountain
Division. A few years since it was of but little value, but a
village is rapidly growing, created by the company's works.
JOHNSTOWN was originally the point of shipment for iron brought
from the Juniata to the west, and floated in flat boats down the
Conemaugh, past many places where furnaces now furnish this metal
at one-fourth the ancient cost. The construction of the State
Canal and Portage Railroad was of great advantage to this town,
but it is indebted for its present highly prosperous condition
chiefly to the Pennsylvania Railroad. It lies at the junction
of the Western Division of the Pennsylvania Canal and the Portage
Railroad, and at the point where Stony Creek empties into the
Conemaugh River. Both these streams penetrate a country rich in
coal, iron, cement-rock, fine clay &c., and these mineral
treasures have given to Johnstown extensive iron works and other
industrial establishments. The Cambria Iron Company's establishment
is one of the largest in America.
Of these works an account is to be found in "Taylor's
Statistics of Coal," from which we condense a brief statement.
They are situated at the confluence of the Little and Great Conemaugh
Rivers, immediately below Johnstown. The property embraces about
twenty-five thousand acres. The lands, with a few charcoal furnaces
and other improvements, were purchased a few years ago for the
sum of three hundred thousand dollars. The country has been here
upheaved by sonic internal convulsion, and with it, on both sides
of a narrow valley, the richest deposits of iron ore, bituminous
coal, hydraulic cement, fire-brick clay, and limestone, in strata
contiguous to each other. The principal vein, adjoining the furnace
and rolling-mill (carbonate of iron), lies over the coal measures,
about two hundred feet above the bed of the Conemaugh, and sixty
feet above the tunnel head of the furnaces.
Besides the four blast furnaces, which have lately been enlarged
and improved, and are now yielding a product of two hundred tons
of pigs per week, the Company have nearly completed four other
blast furnaces, for smelting with coke the iron ore taken from
the face of the hill, and calculated to produce each five thousand
tons of pigs per aunum, making an aggregate of about twenty-eight
thousand tons per annum.
They have also finished a long rolling-mill, six hundred by
three hundred and fifty feet in extent, in the shape of a cross,
with sixty puddling stacks, twelve heating furnaces, four scrap
furnaces, &c., and which, when in full operation, will produce
more than one hundred tons of railway iron per day, or thirty
thousand tons per annum. This, we believe, is the largest single
mill in existence. The engine for the four blast furnaces is four
hundred horse power.
The Johnstown Iron Furnace, belonging to Messrs. Rhey Mathews
& Co. is on a smaller scale, but its operations have been
carried on during the past three or four years with extraordinary
energy and signal success.
Johnstown being by far the most important point in this section
of country, its people have long thought that a new county should
be created out of parts of Cambria, Westmoreland and Somerset,
to be called Conemaugh, with Johnstown as the county seat.
From this point there is a turnpike road to Legonier, Westmoreland
County, another to Ebensberg, Cambria County, and a plank road
to Somerset, population nearly five thousand.
CONEMAUGH FURNACE belongs to Rhey Mathews & Co., and has
been in successful operation during the past three years. On the
opposite side of the Conemaugh is Indiana Furnace, belonging to
Elias Baker, of Blair Co. The population is about five hundred,
and these furnaces furnish an important local trade to the railroad.
NINEVEH is at present of small account, but it is believed
that it will become in time a considerable depot for the lumber
and other products of the southern portion of Indiana County.
There is a wood and water station at this point.
NEW FLORENCE is exclusively a railroad town, and is as yet
too young to have a history. It is surrounded by a fine mineral
region; there are several furnaces in the neighborhood, and it
is rapidly improving. It is proposed to make it the capital of
a new county to be called Legonier, and to embrace the beautiful
and fertile valley of that name. From Florence roads diverge to
Legonier and other points on the south, and to Indiana on the
north. The Railroad Company has an extensive wood and water station
at this place.
LOCKPORT, on the canal, where it crosses the Conemaugh by a
very beautiful cut stone aqueduct, is the next point. John Covode,
the representative in Congress from this district, an enterprising
citizen of this neighborhood, has built a large and substantial
brick warehouse at this place, and a considerable local trade
is done chiefly from Legonier Valley. One of the late Dr. Shoenburger's
iron furnaces is also located here. The roads to the south lead
through Covodesville to Legonier and the southern turnpike. Just
above here is a six foot vein of coal, of an excellent quality,
belonging to the Westmoreland Coal Company, who are about erecting
furnaces for making coke.
BOLIVAR is the seat of an extensive and most valuable fire-brick
BLAIRSVILLE INTERSECTION. At this point the Branch Road to
Blairsville (3 miles), and thence to Indiana (16 miles), diverges
from the main line.
From Cresson's Station on the Alleghany Mountains to this intersection,
the road has followed the Conemaugh, and the traveller cannot
fail to have been alternately delighted with the beauty and awed
by the grandeur of the scenery. Among the latter the most remarkable
is the cut along the Pack Saddle Mountain one mile east of the
intersection. The road passes through the Chestnut Ridge at a
gap formed by the Conemaugh upon a narrow ledge cut out of the
solid rock in the side of the mountain, at a distance of one hundred
and sixty feet above the river and canal.
BLAIRSVILLE, on the right, three miles from the station, is
an important town in Indiana County, on the canal and the Northern
turnpike, and is the junction of the Northwestern with the Pennsylvania
Railroad. This will bring Blairsville into immediate intercourse
with Lake Erie and the extensive and, as yet, almost unsettled
territory of Northwestern Pennsylvania, which abounds in coal,
iron, and timber. The population is about three thousand, and
is rapidly increasing.
INDIANA, nineteen miles from the intersection, is the capital
of Indiana County, and the terminus of the Branch Railroad. It
is a neat, thriving village, with excellent society, and is a
pleasant place of residence. Its trade is not large, and the town
has been heretofore indebted for its moderate prosperity chiefly
to the public business, but it is believed that the railroad will
make it a considerable shipping point, and change its peaceful
tranquillity into the activity of an extensive traffic.
Returning to the main line, the next station is HILL SIDE,
where the Company has an extensive depot for wood and water.
MILLWOOD is a small station, doing an inconsiderable business.
DERRY station is about one mile south of the ancient village
of that name, and is an important water and wood station. Roads
diverge from here to various parts of Westmoreland County.
ST. CLAIR is a new railroad town, and is improving.
LATROBE was laid out by Oliver W. Barnes, Esq., four years
ago, and now contains a population of about eight hundred. It
has a very extensive hotel, engine house, large warehouses, &c.
There are several manufacturing establishments, including car
works, iron foundry, &c. The road here crosses the Loyal Hanna
by a substantial stone askew bridge. Roads diverge from Latrobe
in every direction through the rich agricultural region by which
it is surrounded, and a stage for Youngstown connects with every
BEATTY'S is a small station, connected by a turnpike two miles
long, with the southern turnpike. About a mile from this place
is the Benedictine Monastery and College, which numbers some two
hundred students. Near this there is a young ladies' boarding
school, conducted by the Sisters of Mercy. Both these institutions
are located on beautiful farms, admirably cultivated, and the
buildings are very extensive and complete for the purposes for
which they are designed.
GEORGE'S STATION is a shipping point for a portion of the produce
of the fertile country through which we are now passing.
GREENSBURG, capital of Westmoreland County, was the original
seat of justice of what now constitutes most of the southwestern
counties, including Allegheny; and it is a curious illustration
of the rapid and decisive changes which have taken place in the
west, that it is within the memory of many living men, when counsel,
parties, and witnesses came from Pittsburg, during court week,
to Greensburg to try their cases. Among the lawyers of these days
were Ross, Breckenridge, Baldwin, Wilkins, and others, whom the
traditions of the bar represent to have been of profound learning
and most vigorous intellect. For many years before the construction
of the railroad, Greensburg had remained stationary, but recently
it has received a considerable impetus, and now feels the advantage
of the rich and populous country around it. This remark applies
generally to the county of Westmoreland, through which the road
runs for more than sixty miles. Nature was prodigal of her gifts
to this favored countyfertile soil, healthy climate, beautiful
scenery, rich mines of iron, abundance of coal, gave to her people
profuse means of prosperity. But want of ready and cheap access
to market had rendered all these advantages comparatively valueless.
Simplicity, virtue, and contentment, are the distinguishing
characteristics of the population. The railroad has opened the
world to them, taught them the value of their advantages, inspired
them with enterprise, and has added already enormously to the
wealth of the community. It is, perhaps, not going too far to
say that the additional value of the land in this county alone,
is sufficient to pay the entire cost of the construction of the
Greensburg has always been distinguished for the refinement
and intelligence of many of its inhabitants, and is a delightful
summer residence, much resorted to by Pittsburgers. It contains
about sixteen hundred inhabitants. Immediately east of the town
is the junction of the contemplated Branch Railroad to Uniontown,
Fayette County, and on the west, the Hempfield Railroad, now in
process of construction, joins the Pennsylvania road, thus connecting
it with the Ohio River at Wheeling.
Roads diverge from Greensburg to all parts of the country,
and stages leave for Mount Pleasant, Somerset, Uniontown, Bedford,
Legonier, and Cumberland, Maryland.
In the Presbyterian churchyard, on the left of the railroad
as you enter Greensburg, General ARTHUR ST. CLAIR is buried. His
life, obscure in its commencement, afterwards distinguished, then
unfortunate, and finally full of trouble, was, nevertheless, always
marked by the most scrupulous honor, and his conduct and position
during the Revolution have connected his name inseparably with
the history of this country. Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, he accompanied
the fleet under Admiral Boscawen to America in 1755. He was a
lieutenant in the British army, commanded by General Wolfe. At
the close of the French war he was assigned to the charge of Fort
Legonier, in the valley of that name, now the western part of
Westmoreland County. One thousand acres of land having been granted
to him, he laid it out in circular form, and selected almost the
worst in the countypreferring, singularly enough, the barren
rocks and stones of Chestnut Ridge to the fertile limestone lands
of the valleys around him. He became a justice of the peace, and
was then first prothonotary of the county, and at Greensburg may
still be seen many records authenticated by him in the name of
"our Sovereign Lord, George the Third, King of Great Britain,
France, and Ireland."
"In ancient times the sacred plough employed
The kings and awful fathers of mankind,
And some, with whom compared, poor insect tribes
Are but the beings of a summer's day,
Have held the scale of empire, ruled the storm
Of mighty war; then, with unwearied hand,
Disdaining little delicacies, seized
The plough, and greatly independent lived."
His grave was unmarked until 1832, when the Masonic Lodge of
Greensburg erected a chaste and appropriate monument with the
inscription: "The earthly remains of Major General Arthur
St. Clair are deposited beneath this humble monument, which is
erected to supply the place of a nobler one due from his country."
LUDWICK is an extensive freight station adjoining Greensburg,
and being the forwarding and receiving point for that town and
the surrounding country, an extensive business is done here. The
Company have erected a large brick warehouse, an engine house,
wood and water station, &c. A town has been laid out as an
extension of Greensburg, by William A. Stokes, the able solicitor
of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, and contains already a considerable
population, which is rapidly increasing.
GRAPEVILLE is also a station of the second class, and is one
mile north of the village of that name on the Pittsburg turnpike.
MANOR is situated in the midst of a large body of very rich
land selected by the Penns and reserved as their private property.
They had many such tracts of land. Pittsburg is built on one of
them. The most celebrated, perhaps, was Pennsbury, in Bucks County,
which William Penn improved for his own residence, and where he
hoped in peace and plenty to end his days. "Let my children,"
said he, "be husbandmen and housewives. This leads to consider
the works of God and nature, and diverts the mind from being taken
up with the vain arts and inventions of a luxurious world. Of
cities and towns, of concourse beware. The world is apt
to stick close to those who have lived and got wealth there. A
country life and estate I like best for my children."
These proprietary manors form a curious feature in the history
of Pennsylvania land titles. In 1779, the legislature vested in
the Commonwealth the rights which the Penns derived from the charter
of Charles II, to William Penn, declaring that the claims of the
proprietaries to the whole of the soil contained within the bounds
of the charter could not longer consist with the safety, liberty,
and happiness of the people; that, as the safety and happiness
of the people is the fundamental law of society, and it had been
the practice and usage of States most celebrated for freedom and
wisdom, to control and abolish all claims of power and interest
inconsistent with their safety and welfare, and it being the right
and duty of the representatives of the people to assume the direction
and management of such interest and property as belongs to the
community, or was designed for their advantage; that it had become
necessary that speedy and effectual measures should be taken in
the premises, on account of the great expense of the war of the
revolution then going on, and the rapid progress of neighboring
States in locating and settling lands heretofore uncultivated,
by which multitudes of inhabitants were daily emigrating from
this State. These were unanswerable reasons for abolishing rights
and powers which were of a political, rather than private nature,
and which were utterly inconsistent with the new position of Pennsylvania
as a sovereign State. But, with strict regard for justice, this
same law provided that all the private estates, lands &c.,
of any of the proprietaries whereof they were then possessed,
or to which they were then entitled in their private several right
and capacity, and all the lands known as proprietary manors, should
be confirmed, ratified and established.
Thus stood the title to this MANOR and the many others selected
by the Penns throughout the State; and although succeeding generations
of the family have sold the most of these tracts, large and valuable
bodies of land still remain which belong to them. He who seeks
to purchase good land may very safely rely on the judgment of
Penn and his agents, and generally feel quite safe if he can obtain
a farm which is in one of the manors. The title to these lands
never having been in the Commonwealth gives rise to some curious
questions as to the power of the State to control them. But these
discussions, now of little practical account, can hardly be considered
within the legitimate range of railroad reading.
IRWIN'S is a very extensive business point. In addition to
the local trade of the rich surrounding country, the Coal Grove
coal works, the property of Coleman & Co., of Pittsburg, are
located here. The shipment of coal will exceed thirty thousand
tons this year, and is rapidly increasing. It is of unsurpassed
and rarely equalled quality. It is used in the gas works of Philadelphia,
New York, and Brooklyn, and is considered fully equal, if not
superior, to any of the foreign coals. A town is laid out here
which already contains three hundred inhabitants. Roads communicate
north and south from this point.
LARIMERS, 20 miles from Pittsburg, is also the centre of extensive
coal operations, the works of the Westmorland Coal Co. being located
here. The vein is the same as at Irvine's, and of most excellent
quality. The operations of this coal company, although already
approaching twenty thousand tons per annum, are still but partial
and imperfect, and the quantity which is demanded for eastern
supply is so large, that there is scarcely a limit to the extent
of the business which will be done.
STEWART'S. At this place there is a handsome freight and passenger
WALL'S STATION is a depot for wood and water of the second
TURTLE CREEK, 12 miles from Pittsburg, is also a small station
at the intersection of the Greensburg and Pittsburg turnpike.
BRINTON'S. At this point the road crosses Turtle Creek and
intersects the Plank Road to Pittsburg. It is the place of departure
for passengers by the Monongahela and Youghiogheny Slack Water,
which extends from Pittsburg to Brownsville and West Newton. The
Connelsville Railroad will connect here with the Pennsylvania
Railroad. From this and the intermediate stations to Pittsburg,
there are numerous trains which afford great facility to persons
living near the road and engaged in business in Pittsburg. Here
and at Braddock's Fields and other points in the neighborhood,
coal mines and lime quarries are being opened, and an extensive
business in these articles is already transacted with Pittsburg.
BRADDOCK'S FIELD is the battle ground on which Gen. Braddock
was totally defeated by the French and Indians on the 9th July,
1755. At an early day in the history of this country, the French,
ascending from the mouth of the Mississippi, and descending from
Canada, had penetrated the west in various directions, and had
made many settlements, still indicated by their names, as Vincennes,
Vandalia, St. Louis, &c. Among these was FORT DU QUESNE, on
the point at the junction of the Monongahela and Alleghany Rivers,
on the ground now occupied by the freight depot of the Pennsylvania
Railroad, appropriately named "Du QUESNE DEPOT." In
June, 1775, while the war was raging which made the noblest of
modern orators, WILLIAM PITT, Earl of Chatham, the greatest of
English ministers, which carried British arms in triumph by sea
and land around the circumference of the globe, and first taught
the American colonists their growing power, an army composed of
British regulars and Provincial militia marched, under command
of GENT. BRADDOCK, from Cumberland to attack the French in the
western wilderness. PITT, the orator, sent out this expedition.
FRANKLIN, the philosopher, furnished the means of transportation.
WASHINGTON, the patriot, accompanied it. Does history record any
event which united in a common enterprise men such as these three?
Slowly, with difficulty, encumbered with baggage, still more
encumbered by military formulas unsuited to the warfare of the
woods, this army proceeded westward, and on the 9th July, crossed
to the right bank of the Monongahela at a ripple about a mile
below the mouth of Turtle Creek, and within ten miles of Fort
If the traveller will look to the left soon after passing Brinton's
Station, he will see the pool made by a dam across the river.
This is the spot where the army crossed. Ascending from the river,
he will perceive for some distance an alluvial bottom, interspersed
with ravines of various extent. These increase in number and depth
as you approach and ascend the bank above the railroad. In these
ravines the enemy (completely concealed by the dense forest) was
posted. The British forces, "in all the pomp and circumstance
of glorious war," crossed the river, marched through the
level ground, and, as the advance guard approached the hills,
a heavy and quick fire was opened upon them by their concealed
COL. WASHINGTON wrote to his mother from Fort Cumberland, 18th
July, 1755, nine days after the battle: "When we came there,
we were attacked by a party of French and Indians, whose number
I am persuaded did not exceed three hundred men, while ours consisted
of about one thousand three hundred well-armed troops, chiefly
regular soldiers, who were struck with such a panic that they
behaved with more cowardice than it is possible to conceive. The
officers behaved gallantly in order to encourage their men, for
which they suffered greatly, there being nearly seventy killed
and woundeda large proportion of the number we had. The
Virginia troops showed a good deal of bravery, and were nearly
all killed; for I believe out of three companies that were there,
scarcely thirty men are left alive. Capt. Peyrouny and all his
officers, down to a corporal, were killed. Capt. Polson had nearly
as hard a fate, for only one of his was left. In short, the dastardly
behaviour of those they call regulars, exposed all others that
were inclined to do their duty, to almost certain death; and,
at last, in despite of all the efforts of the officers to the
contrary, they ran, as sheep pursued by dogs, and it was impossible
to rally them. The general was wounded, of which he died three
days after. Sir Peter Halkett was killed in the field, where died
many other brave officers. I luckily escaped without a wound,
though I had four bullets through my coat, and two horses shot
under me. Captains Orne and Morris, two of the aides-de-camp,
were wounded early in the engagement, which rendered the duty
harder upon me, as I was the only person then left to distribute
the general's orders; which I was scarcely able to do, as I was
not half recovered from a violent illness that had confined me
to my bed and a wagon for above ten days. I am still in a weak
and feeble condition, which induces me to halt here two or three
days, in the hope of recovering a little strength, to enable me
to proceed homewards." And to his brother John he writes
at the same time: "As I have heard, since my arrival at this
place, a circumstantial account of my death and dying speech,
I take this early opportunity of contradicting the first, and
of assuring you that I have not yet composed the latter. But,
by the all-powerful dispensations of Providence, I have been protected
beyond all human probability or expectation; for I had four bullets
through my coat, and two horses shot under me, yet escaped unhurt;
although death was levelling my companions on every side of me."
It appears that Washington's estimate of the numbers of the
enemy was underrated. Mr. Sparks ascertained in Paris that there
were eight hundred and fifty, of whom two-thirds were Indians.
To show the difficulty and uncertainty of communication in
those days, as compared with these, when thirteen hours take the
traveller from Braddock's Field to Philadelphia, the following
letter received by the Provincial Council on the 23d July, fourteen
days after the battle, is inserted. It is curious also for the
simplicity of primitive days which it discloses:
"Sir: I thought it proper to let you know that I was in
the battle where we were defeated; and we had about eleven hundred
and fifty private men besides officers and others, and we were
attacked the 9th day about twelve o'clock, and held till about
three in the afternoon, and then we were forced to retreat, when
I suppose we might bring about three hundred whole men besides
a vast many wounded; most of our officers were either wounded
or killed; General Braddock is wounded, but I hope not mortal,
and Sir John St. Claire and many others, but I hope not mortal.
All the train is cut off in a manner. Sir Peter Halkett and his
son, Captain Pelson, Captain Gethen, Captain Rose, Captain Tatten,
killed, and many others; Capt Ord, of the train, is wounded, but
I hope not mortal. We lost all our artillery entirely, and everything
"To Mr. John Smith and Buchannon, and give it to the next
Post, and let him shew this to George Gibson, in Lancaster, and
Mr, Bingham, at the sign of the ship, and you'll oblige,
Yours to command,
"P S. And from that to be told at the Indian King.
"N. B. The above is directed to Mr. Smith and Buchannon,
That this catastrophe was the result of the presumptuous confidence
of the English officers, there can be no doubt. This stubborn
Anglo-Saxon spirit, which despises danger, and sometimes makes
courage rashness, is still unchanged, and has been recently shown
by Lord Cardigan in the Crimea, as it was one hundred years ago
by Gen. Braddock on the Monongahela.
SWISSVALE. A neat village has been laid out here by Mr. Swisshelm,
and the beauty of the location along the entire line of the road,
from Turtle Creek to Pittsburg, has attracted many persons from
the latter place, who have erected residences which adorn the
road and the bank of the Monongahela, and give to this region
a refined and cultivated society.
WILKINSBURG, at the crossing of the Greensburg turnpike, contains
about four hundred inhabitants, and is gradually improving. Here
is a neat passenger station.
HOMEWOOD is called after the seat of the Hon. William Wilkins,
which is about a mile distant, and is an extensive and romantic
place, highly cultivated, adorned with a beautiful residence,
fit for the home of the distinguished and venerable statesman,
whose genius has honored his country abroad, and reflects lustre
on his native State.
EAST LIBERTY is a thriving and rapidly increasing village.
Many of the merchants of Pittsburg have elegant residences near
this place. The station house is a fine specimen of old English
MILLVALE is near the residence of the late Hon. Harmer Denny,
a distinguished citizen of Western Pennsylvania. Immediately adjoining
the extensive estate of the Dennys, is the Western Pennsylvania
Hospital, a noble pile of building, erected chiefly by the generosity
of the people of Pittsburg on ground given by the O'Haras and
We now enter the OUTER DEPOT of the Railroad, which consists
of about twenty acres, bounded by Liberty, Morton, Ferguson, and
Lumber Streets. There are seventeen parallel tracks, making an
entire length of nearly six miles within the Company's grounds.
Here is a locomotive and car-repair shop, altogether two hundred
and forty feet long by two hundred and twenty feet. Blacksmith
shop, tinner's, painter's, carpenter's, trimming shop, store houses,
offices, wood houses, coal sheds, water stations, cattle yards,
weigh scales and offices, local freight house, three hundred feet
long by seventy-five feet wide, with offices attached; iron and
lumber yards, and a circular engine house, one of the largest
in America, nine hundred feet in circumference, containing stalls
for forty-four locomotive engines and tenders.
These buildings are mostly of brick, built in a substantial
manner, and with considerable architectural elegance. The whole
property is underdrained by brick and stone culverts. The steam
engines and all the extensive machinery is of the best quality,
and has all the modern improvements. An idea of the extent of
the operations of a great railroad can probably be had more satisfactorily
by a visit to this depot, or that at Altoona, than by any other
mode. The Ninth Ward, in which these works are situated, was very
sparsely inhabited before the Company located there, but it is
now rapidly increasing in population, and is one of the busiest
and most thriving parts of the city.
Passing through this establishment, we enter Liberty Street,
and the speed of the train is diminished to about four miles per
hour. The anxious precautions which are taken in passing through
the streets of the city, have been so successful that no persons
have ever been injured except by their own gross negligence. This
remark, indeed, applies to the entire line of road, and it is
a remarkable fact that of the hundreds of thousands of persons
carried in the passenger trains on the Pennsylvania Railroad,
no one, sitting in his proper place, has ever been injured in
the slightest degree.
Accidents have resulted from standing on the platforms, from
attempting to get on or off the cars when in motion, and from
other irregularities of similar kind; but conformity to the rules
of the Company, which are made for the safety and comfort of passengers,
is practically equivalent to absolute assurance of security.
At Grant Street, we enter the passenger station by a curve
to the left from Liberty Street. This depot occupies a lot of
ground fronting on Seventh, Liberty, and Grant Streets, five hundred
feet in length by one hundred and twenty feet in width. The arrangements
of the Company with the Excelsior Omnibus Line, relieves passengers
from all risk and trouble as to themselves or their baggage. Before
the cars reach Pittsburg, an agent passes through them, collects
all baggage checks, and ascertains where the respective articles
are to be delivered. He gives a check receipt for the baggage,
and the passenger finds it safely delivered soon after his arrival.
At the depot numerous omnibuses are in waiting on the arrival
of the trains, and passengers are immediately carried to any part
of the city where they may wish to go.
Opposite the passenger station the Company owns a lot of ground
on the canal, Liberty, and Seventh Streets, about eight hundred
feet in length by one hundred and fifty feet in width, on which
a local freight depot is to be erected for the exclusive accommodation
and convenience of the merchants and citizens of Pittsburg.
The railroad continues its course down Liberty Street to Marbury,
when it enters the through-freight depot, a new and beautiful
brick building, nearly seven hundred feet in length on Liberty
Street, by one hundred and ten feet in width, and extending from
Marbury Street to the Monongahela River. This is, like the outer
depot, one of the sights of Fittsburg, and well worthy of a visit
by persons who take an interest in the improved modes of transport
and communication with which modern science and enterprise have
amazed the world. Large as this building is, it will hardly be
sufficient for the rapidly increasing business of the road, which,
for the past year, was about 250,000 tons, and will probably,
when the road is fully completed, and its advantages are thoroughly
appreciated, amount to a gross tonnage of a million of tons per
PITTSBURG, located in the triangle formed by the union of the
Monongahela and Alleghany, which make the Ohio River, is the second
city of Pennsylvania. It contains, with Alleghany and the environs,
a population exceeding one hundred thousand, almost all of whom
are engaged in or connected with industrial pursuits, and chiefly
in the various branches of manufacturing, for which the location
of the city is peculiarly favorable.
Nearly a century ago, General WASHINGTON, then a young man,
standing in the forest at the junction of the Alleghany and Monongahela,
predicted the fortunate destiny of what is now Pittsburg. He foresaw
that the wildness of savage life would vanish at the advance of
certain civilization, and that the opulence of commerce, and the
refinements of intelligence would succeed the wretchedness of
the original settlers, and the barbarism of the aborigines. But
Washington also clearly perceived the necessity for the development
of the natural resources of this favored spot by an artificial
channel of communication with the east, and he was the original
projector of a road to connect the waters of the Ohio with the
Chesapeake Baythe parent project of all the improvements
to unite the east with the west, which have since been executed.
In 1784, Washington wrote to Governor Harrison, of Virginia,
in reference to the trade of the west, and the competition even
then springing up for its enjoyment: "A people who are possessed
of a spirit of commerce; who see and will pursue their advantages,
may achieve almost anything. In the meantime, under the uncertainty
of these undertakings, they are smoothing the roads and paving
the way for the trade of the western world. That New York will
do the same, no person who knows the temper, genius and policy
of these people can harbor the smallest doubt."
After this far-seeing exposition of our true policy, and the
accurate estimate of our northern neighbors, General Washington
proceeds: "Common policy, therefore, points clearly and strongly
to the propriety of our enjoying all the advantages which nature
and our local situation afford us; and clearly evinces that unless
this spirit could be totally eradicated in other States as well
as this, and every man be made to become a cultivator of the land,
or a manufacturer of such articles as are prompted by necessity,
such stimulus should be employed as will force this spirit,
by showing to our countrymen the superior advantages we possess
beyond others, and the importance of being on an equal footing
with our neighbors." Although not directed to the particular
part of the country through which we have passed, the circumstances
are so similar, that every word thus written by Washington is
full of instruction; and is, indeed, the wisdom which, put in
action, has given Pennsylvania a great work, of which her people
may well be proud.
Pittsburg is beautifully and most favorably situated. On the
north flow the clear and sparkling waters of the Alleghany, which
is formed by the union of several streams, some of which rise
in the north of Pennsylvania, others in the southwestern part
of New York. After crossing the State line, it receives successively
the waters of French Creek, Clarion, Red Bank, and Kiskiminetas
Rivers. The Monongahela, on the other side of Pittsburg, offers
a striking contrast to the Alleghany. It is said that its name
is a combination of Indian words meaning "river without an
island," and such, with very unimportant exceptions, is the
fact in regard to it. Its chief tributary is the Youghiogheny
River. Its waters are turbid, and flow with smooth and gentle
current through a fertile and beautiful country from its sources
in Virginia to its mouth, a distance of one hundred and fifty
miles. The trade of these rivers is very considerable. Steamboats
run up the Alleghany to Freeport, Kittanning, Franklin, and Warren.
Its descending current brings down numerous and enormous rafts,
which supply the larger part of all the pine timber, boards, and
shingles used in the valley of the Mississippi from Pittsburg
to New Orleans. Five hundred large flatboats or arks come down
the Alleghany annually, loaded with corn, salt, lumber or produce,
pot and pearlashes, whiskey, cheese, cabinet ware, tubs, buckets,
&c., bay, oats, potatoes, hoop-poles, bark, &c. The traffic
on the Monongahela is also important. Dams have been erected which
make it navigable above Brownswille and Youghiogeny to West Newton.
Many hundred large flatboats and steamboats run daily on these
streams loaded with coal, and numerous other craft with produce,
descend these rivers to Pittsburg, which in return supplies them
with dry goods, groceries, iron ware, &c.
Of the Ohio, nearly one thousand miles in length, "the
beautiful river," as its early explorers, the French, called
it, it is needless to say more than that it has the enormous commerce
which belongs to one of the greatest natural highways in the world.
It has but one impediment, the low water of the summer which sometimes
suspends navigation for several months, creating great losses,
and often involving much suffering. This is a difficulty which
those competent to judge say can be obviated at moderate expense.
This river, running through part of Pennsylvania, the boundary
of the great States of Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and
Kentucky, the channel by which supplies of the most necessary
importance reach besides these, the vast and numerous States bordering
on the Mississippi River, or penetrated by its tributaries, is
of national character in the highest sense. No one State can control
it. In all that relates to it, the larger portion of the entire
republic is concerned. And it is to be expected that before long
the demand of the west and southwest for the efficient improvement
of this their great national highway, will be so energetic and
unanimous, as to secure what is so important to the interest and
comfort of the many millions of people who inhabit the valley
of the Mississippi.
Thus situated, it is not surprising that Pittsburg should be
intimately connected with the navigation of the western rivers.
The first steamboat on these waters was built here in 1811. Upwards
of one hundred are now owned heremany are built every year,
and among them are some of extraordinary speed and splendor. Especially
is the line of packets which leave daily for Cincinnati, Louisville,
and St. Louis, remarkable for punctuality, comfort, and safety,
and it may well be doubted whether, considering their splendid
saloons, spacious state-rooms, elegant table, excellent attendance,
and motion smooth, rapid, and safe, more convenience for comfortable
travelling can be found anywhere than in these packets.
More rapid communication may be found for those going west
by the Pennsylvania and Ohio Railroad, which connects with the
Pennsylvania Road, and by which all the important points in the
west may be speedily reached. Starting from the depot, you may
by this or connecting roads, reach Cleveland, Sandusky, Columbus,
Cincinnati, Dayton, Indianapolis, Chicago, St. Louis, &c.
The railroad now being constructed from Pittsburg to Connellsville,
thence to Cumberland, to connect with the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
that to Steubenville, which will connect with the Indiana Road,
and give a direct communication on a road of the same gauge as
the Pennsylvania, through the States of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinoisthat
to Erie connecting with the Northern Ohio, Michigan, and New York
roads. The Alleghany Valley railroad, extending from Pittsburg
north, and to the State line, and joining the New York and Erie
road, the Chartier's Valley road to Washington, will make Pittsburg
a great artificial centre of railroad communication, as nature
has made it the chief radiating point of western-waters intercourse.
The manufactories of this city are most interesting, and among
these are the cotton factories, iron foundries, steam-engine manufactories,
rolling-mills, bar and rod-iron manufactories, those of nails,
glass works, steel and brass, steam flouring-mills, steam saw-mills,
rope walks, oil cloth manufactory, extensive smithshops, plough,
carriage, and wagon manufactories, shovel, spade, and fork manufactories,
those for locks and small iron articles of various sorts, establishments
for boat building, and for the manufacture of articles of leather,
hats, caps, saddlery, paper furniture, and almost all articles
either for use or ornament. The coal mines on the Monongahela
side, with the railroads and other apparatus for bringing the
coal to the river, and loading it, are curious.
The public buildings of Pittsburg, of chief importance, are
the Courthouse and the Penitentiary; in Alleghany, the Custom-house
and Post-office, the New Market Houses, Masonic Hall, the Catholic
Cathedral, St. Peter's Episcopal Church, the First and Third Presbyterian
Churches, and the Monongahela House. The numerous bridges over
the Alleghany, and the beautiful wire suspension bridge over the
Monongahela, are well worthy of examination.
In this brief and imperfect sketch we have barely named some
of the objects of interest in this city. It is impossible, within
the limits of this little book to do more. We have not even named
the twin sister city of Alleghany, with her twenty-five thousand
inhabitants, nor Manchester, Birmingham, Lawrenceville, &c.,
all contiguous to and for all practical purposes part of Pittsburg,
and all likely soon to be consolidated into one municipal corporation.
And so, courteous traveller, having accompanied you from PHILADELPHIA
to PITTSBURG, and pointed out what seemed likely to interest you
on the PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD, we bid you farewell.
The following lines, written by Dr. Darwin more than half a
century ago, are now partly realized. The other part, though beautiful
poetry, is a mere flight of imagination.
"Soon shall thy arm, unconquered steam! afar
Drag the slow barge, or drive the rapid car:
Or, on wide waving wings expanded bear
The flying chariot through the fields of air.
Fair crews triumphant leaning from above,
Shall wave their fluttering kerchiefs as they move,
Or warrior bands alarm the gaping crowd,
And armies shrink beneath the shadowy cloud."
The Pennsylvania Railroad is a very important link in the chain
which binds, by a direct connection, the eastern or Atlantic cities
with those situated on the Ohio and Mississippi. Taking Boston
and New York as points of departure for the west, say for Cincinnati,
as a central point, the traveller saves in distance, in time,
and in expense, one day's journey by this road. If he wish to
approach any city in the west by a direct line from these
points, he must go through the territory of Pennsylvania. He can
travel, it is true, by the New York and Erie, and by the Central,
but these are circuitous routes to the west. Their direction
is to the Lakes, and lie on a circumference line, while the Pennsylvania
Railroad is on a diameter line. As soon as it was ascertained
that the Alleghany Mountain could be passed on a direct route
to Pittsburg, without an inclined plane, the citizens of Pennsylvania,
and particularly those of Philadelphia, determined that such a
railroad should be made. In 1838 the first survey was made by
Van. E. Morris, an engineer. In 1841 Charles L. Schlatter was
appointed by the Board of Canal Commissioners, to make a full
survey for a railway from Harrisburg to Pittsburg. The first meeting
of the citizens of Philadelphia, in relation to building the road,
was held at the Chinese Museum, on the 10th December, 1845. It
was an unusually large meeting, at which a determined spirit was
manifested to prosecute this great work. Thomas P. Cope was called
to the chair. A preamble and resolutions urging the importance
of the work, were offered by Wm. M. Meredith, and unanimously
adopted. A large committee on memorials to the Legislature, praying
for an act of incorporation, and a committee of nine to prepare
and publish an address to the citizens of Pennsylvania, setting
forth the views and objects of the meeting, were appointed. The
latter consisted of the following persons: George W. Toland, Thomas
M. Petit, Henry Welsh, Isaac Hazlehurst, John M. Atwood, Robert
Allen, George N. Baker, Thomas C. Rockhill, and George M. Stroud.
On the 13th of April, 1846, a law was obtained to incorporate
the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. As soon as the act was passed,
a large town meeting was called in Philadelphia, for the purpose
of taking measures to bring the corporation into existence. At
this meeting a resolution was adopted for the appointment of a
committee to prepare an address to the citizens, urging the measure.
On this committee the following named gentlemen were appointed
by the chairman, Thomas P. Cope, viz: Job R. Tyson, David S. Brown,
John Grigg, Thomas Sparks, George N. Baker, Richard D. Wood and
James Magee. This committee prepared an address which was issued
in pamphlet form, and was extensively published in the newspapers.
It was understood to be from the pen of its chairman, Job R. Tyson.
It met with a warm response from the citizens. Private and corporate
subscriptions were soon obtained, particularly one from the city,
of two and a half millions of dollars. This subscription gave
an impulse to the enterprise that left no longer any doubt about
its success. The first Board of Directors consisted of the following
gentlemen, most of whom had been active in promoting this great
work, viz: S. V. Merrick, Thomas P. Cope, Robert Toland, David,
S. Brown, James Magee, Richard D. Wood, Stephen Colwell, George
W. Carpenter, Christian E. Spangler, Thomas T. Lea, William C.
Patterson, John A. Wright, and Henry C. Corbit. First officersS.
V. Merrick, President; Oliver Fuller, Secretary; George V. Bacon,
Treasurer; J. Edgar Thomson, Chief Engineer; William B. Foster,
Jun., Associate Engineer, of the Eastern Division; Edward Miller,
of the Western.
Although the cost of the Pennsylvania Railroad is great, the
capacity of it is great also, and capable of producing a large
remunerating net income. It is calculated that the tonnage of
the road, when completed with double track, can be increased to
a million of tons per annum, independent of the passenger business.
This amount of tonnage, with, the passenger business, will require
300 engines of 200 horse-power each. Allowing two-thirds of the
engines to be in daily use, the quantity of water consumed by
them per day would be 1,200,000 gallons, which is nearly one-third
of the amount consumed daily by the inhabitants of the city of
Philadelphia. The conversion of this enormous amount of water
into steam would require 810 tons of coal, or 2,000 cords of wood
per day. The chopping, hauling, and preparing this amount of wood
would give employment to 3,000 laborers. The number of eight-wheeled
cars which would be required to accommodate one million of tons
per annum, carried over the whole road at a speed of ten miles
per hour, would be 4,500. The total number of employees of every
description required, would not be less than 4,050. The income
of the road, thus equipped, and transacting such a business, would
be, at low rates, $5,000,000. The population supported by such
a business directly and incidentally, may be estimated at 50,000
persons, not including those supported by dividends on capital,
or in the preparation of iron, lumber, and other materials, which
would swell the aggregate to perhaps 100,000 persons.
Any person who may detect an error either in the book, or who
may desire to have any alteration or addition, or who may be possessed
of any interesting information respecting any place through which
the road passes, would confer a favor by communicating the same
to the Secretary of the Company, Edmund Smith, before, the issuing
of a second edition.
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