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