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Altoona,Blair,PA

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Altoona is a city in Blair County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is the principal city of the Altoona, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 49,523 at the 2000 census.

Wayne Hippo is Altoona's mayor. The other members of Altoona City Council are Matthew Garber, Mark Geis, Bruce Kelley, Ronald Reidell, Joseph Rieker, and William Schirf.

Altoona-Blair County Airport is the commercial airport serving Altoona.

The town is home to the Altoona Curve baseball team of the Double A Eastern League, which is the Double A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Altoona is served by a career fire department of 65 personnel, the largest career department between Harrisburg and Pittsburgh, PA.

Altoona is also home to The Pennsylvania State University, Ivyside Park campus, also known as Penn State Altoona. This is one of the larger Penn State Commonwealth Campuses. The college has approximately 3800 Students as of the 2005-06 school year.

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[edit] History

A major railroad town, Altoona was founded by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1849 as the site for a shop complex. Altoona was incorporated as a borough on February 6, 1854, and as a city under legislation approved on April 3, 1867, and February 8, 1868. The town grew rapidly in the late 19th century, its population approximately 2,000 in 1854, 10,000 in 1870|'70, and 20,000 in 1880|'80.


The demand for locomotives during the American Civil War|Civil War stimulated much of this growth, and by the later years of the war Altoona was known as a valuable city for the North. It was considered by Confederate States of America|Confederate General Robert E. Lee as a target during the Army of Northern Virginia's mid-1863 entry into Pennsylvania, before being repelled at the Battle of Gettysburg. Also notable is the Union's War Governors' Conference, held at Altoona's Logan House.

Notable is the Horseshoe Curve (Pennsylvania)|Horseshoe Curve, a famous curved section of track owned by the Pennsylvania Railroad, now a tourism|tourist attraction and National Historic Landmark. The Curve was used to raise trains to a sufficient altitude to cross the Allegheny Ridge to the west, beyond which was the steel town of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania|Pittsburgh and the rest of the western United States. Because it was the industrial link to the western U.S., Horseshoe Curve was a primary target of eight Nazism|Nazi saboteurs who infiltrated the United States in the early years of World War II (1942) by being dropped off by Kriegsmarine U-Boats.

In the early 20th century, the Railroad's Altoona Works complex employed at its peak some 15,000 people and covered three miles (5 km) in length, 218 acres (880,000 m²) of yards and 37 acres (150,000 m²) of indoor workshop floor space in 122 buildings. The PRR built many of its own locomotives at the Works, some 7,873 in all, the last being constructed in 1946. Things began to decline steadily from that point, and most of the plant is now long gone.

Altoona is also one of the dual seats of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown as the location of the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament (Altoona), which was made a cathedral and rechristened from St. John's Church in 1851. Image:Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament In 2000, Altoona became sister cities with St. Pölten, Austria.

Today, Altoona serves as the corporate home to Sheetz, a rapidly growing convenience store chain in the United States.

[edit] Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 25.3 km² (9.8 square mile|mi²), all land.


Altoona is located at 40º30'39" North, 78º23'59" West (40.510720, -78.399758).

[edit] Sections

The main sections of Altoona are the Dutch Hill area, the Downtown, the Pleasant Valley region, the Plank Road Shopping district, Juniata, Logantown, Fairview, Eldorado, The Fifth Ward, and the Industral Park. The Dutch Hill area is near the schools, and stretches from 7th avenue to I-99 from 25th Street to Kettle Street, and it includes the Pleasant Valley area. The Downtown straddles the famous railroads, from 8th avenue to 15th avenue from 8th street to 18th street, most notably the downtown is charachterized by multistory office buildings, the Railroader's Museum, the Mishler Theather, the Penn Alto building, quite a few churches, and a few single story buildings such as an auto repair shop, a Sheetz, and even some single unit houses amidst the much taller structures that surround them. The Industrial section, once seen as an extension of the downtown, is near Margaret Avenue, from 19th street to 23rd street. Eldorado is the southern section of Altoona, past Logan Boulevard. Logantown is the area just north of the Downtown, near the Altoona Hospital, the tallest building in Altoona. Juniata is known for being the only section of Altoona with its own street and avenue names, leading to confusion for out-of-towners. The fairview section is west of the downtown, it's an urban, mostly poor section, and due to the abundance of apartment buildings close to the downtown, the line betwee downtown and fairview is quite blurred. Beyond 22nd avenue Fairview transitions into the upper class section known affectionately as "Beverly Hills Altoona". A section known as Little Italy encompasses part of the downtown and part of Dutch Hill, from around 11th street to Kettle street from 9th avenue to 6th avenue, but extending up to 2nd avenue once you get to 7th street. It's known as Little Italy due to the high prevalence of Italian-Americans, and to this day contains many ethnic Italian restaraunts and shops.

Image:Clock.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Plaza and clock in the centre of downtown Altoona

[edit] Transportation

Altoona is a major center on the Norfolk Southern Railroad's Pittsburgh Line. In Altoona, helper engines are added to heavy trains to give them extra power up and over the Horseshoe Curve west of town. The Juniata Heavy Repair Shop Complex, originally built by the Pennsylvania Railroad, is the primary repair and maintenance facility on the Norfolk Southern. Altoona is served by several Amtrak trains daily. On an average day, 60 to 80 trains pass though Altoona. The historical importance to the railroad industry and the current high level of railroad activity has made Altoona a mecca for railfans for over 60 years. The Altoona Railroader's Memorial Museum and the Horseshoe Curve are popular spots for rail fans to take photos of passing trains.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 49,523 people, 20,059 households, and 12,576 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,957.1/km² (5,069.7/mi²). There were 21,681 housing units at an average density of 856.8/km² (2,219.5/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 96.01% White (U.S. Census)|White, 2.49% African American (U.S. Census)|African American, 0.10% Native American (U.S. Census)|Native American, 0.32% Asian (U.S. Census)|Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander (U.S. Census)|Pacific Islander, 0.24% from Race (United States Census)|other races, and 0.83% from two or more races. Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic or Latino (U.S. Census)|Latino of any race were 0.74% of the population.

There were 20,059 households out of which 28.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.6% were Marriage|married couples living together, 13.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.3% were non-families. 31.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.37 and the average family size was 2.98.

In the city the population was spread out with 22.9% under the age of 18, 10.9% from 18 to 24, 27.3% from 25 to 44, 22.0% from 45 to 64, and 16.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 88.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.5 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $28,248, and the median income for a family was $36,758. Males had a median income of $28,851 versus $21,242 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,213. About 12.9% of families and 17.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 24.1% of those under age 18 and 9.0% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] Sports

Team Sport League Championships Venue
Altoona Curve Baseball Eastern League; Southern Division 0 Blair County Ballpark

[edit] Notable people from Altoona

  • Harry J. Anslinger, first Commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics.
  • Brad Benson, former professional football player, New York Giants.
  • Janet Blair, actress.
  • Rob Boston, author, advocate of church-state separation.
  • Bill and Bob Boyer, founders of Boyer Brothers Inc., now known as Boyer Candies.
  • Paul Revere Braniff, entrepreneur.
  • Michael J. Duffy, writer, musician.
  • Tom Irwin|Tommy Irwin, baseball player.
  • Mike Iuzzolino, basketball player.
  • Stan Jones (American football)|Stan Jones, football player.
  • Robert Jubelirer politician.
  • Henry Kloss, engineer.
  • James Loy, former Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
  • John J. McGuire, science fiction writer.
  • Johnny Moore (basketball)|Johnny Moore, basketball player.
  • Mike Reid (football)|Mike Reid, football player, musician.
  • Bob Sheetz, founder of the Sheetz convenience store chain.
  • D. Brooks Smith, judge.
  • Harry E. Soyster, military.
  • John A. Stormer, writer.
  • James E. Van Zandt, politician.
  • Andrew Kevin Walker, screenwriter.
  • Doug West, former professional basketball player, Minnesota Timberwolves.
  • Paul Winter, musician.

[edit] External links

[edit] Nearby Attractions

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