Here are several messages in response to the Penn place name requuest.
------------Johnnie
Thu, 09 Sep 93 14:46:58 EDT
"Bruce B. Harper" <[log in to unmask]>
Re: Pennsylvania place name info request
On Thu, 9 Sep 1993 14:11:53 EDT Mary Anne Waltz said:
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>We would appreciate reference assistance from some one with a larger
>collection in place name and/or Pennsylvania history materials. A faculty
>member is researching the borough of Orbisonia, Huntington County, in Pa.
>He would like the basics: date founded, origin of name (Orbison family?),
>early industry (coal? iron?). We have found nothing in the two place name
>books on Pa. that we have, or in a dozen or so Pa. histories we have searched.
>(We have no Pa. county histories, unfortunately.)
Among rail buffs, Orbisonia is a well-known location. The East Broad Top
narrow gauge railroad is located there, along with the Shade Gap Electric
Railway. The EBT hauled coal to a connection with the Pennsylvania
Railroad. When business turned bad, the operation was pretty much abandoned
in place and remained pretty much undisturbed over time. I belive there
is a movement somewhere in Pennsylvania and/or Washington, D.C. to make
the site a national park or national historic site. A check in _Trains_
magazine might provide information on books (or railroad book shops to
inquire of) for books about the East Broad Top and Orbisonia.
Bruce
P.S. There is also a listserv list, [log in to unmask], which might
be a good place to cross-post some of these requests, since a number of
the rail buffs (like me) on that list are interested in history and maps
(especially for locating former rights-of-way and other rail facilties and
locations).
Bruce B. Harper, data analyst
Code and Data Standardization Project
130 Smyth Hall, Institutional Research
Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061-0433
(703)231-5019 <----- NOTE NEW NUMBER!
BHARPER@VTVM1 (BITNET) or [log in to unmask] (Internet)
---------------------------------------
Thu, 9 Sep 1993 13:32:58 -0700 (PDT)
Stan Stevens <[log in to unmask]>
Re: Pennsylvania place name info request
I assume you have tried "Pennsylvania Place Names by A. Howry Espenshade,
reprinted by Gale Research in 1969 (unless you have original edition).
I don't have a copy in front of me.
What I do have is a Columbia Lippincott edition of 1882 that provides the
following: "Orbisonia, a post-village of Huntingdon co., Pa., on the
Huntingdon & East Broad Top Railroad, 12 miles S. of Mount Union, and 40
miles W. of Carlisle. It has 4 churches, a newspaper office, a superior
hotel, and 2 iron-furnaces, owned by the Rock Hill Iron & Coal Company,
who do a large business in mining iron ore. The name of the station is
Rockhill. Pop. in 1880, 766."
If no one else can provide more on the origin of the name, I can ask my
colleague, Donald T. Clark, University Librarian Emeritus of UC-Santa
Cruz. His father-in-law was the compiler of Pennsylvania Place Names, A.
Howry Espenshade. Perhaps he will have a clue.
Stan Stevens
UC-Santa Cruz
On Thu, 9 Sep 1993, Mary Anne Waltz wrote:
> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> We would appreciate reference assistance from some one with a larger
> collection in place name and/or Pennsylvania history materials. A faculty
> member is researching the borough of Orbisonia, Huntington County, in Pa.
> He would like the basics: date founded, origin of name (Orbison family?),
> early industry (coal? iron?). We have found nothing in the two place name
> books on Pa. that we have, or in a dozen or so Pa. histories we have searched.
> (We have no Pa. county histories, unfortunately.)
>
> Thanks in advance for any help on this.
>
> Mary Anne Waltz
> Head, Maps and Government Information Dept.
> Syracuse University Library
> Syracuse, NY 13244-2010
> internet [log in to unmask]
> bitnet [log in to unmask]
> voice (315) 443-4176
> fax (315) 443-9510
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