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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.
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. It also houses the 75+ year-old Altoona Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Nicholas Palmer. Altoona is served by a career fire department of 65 personnel, the largest career department between Harrisburg and Pittsburgh, PA.

Contents

History

General Information

Geography

Sections

Transportation

Demographics

Sports

Education

Trivia

Notable people from Altoona

Sister cities

See also

References

External links

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 '70, and 20,000 in '80.
The demand for locomotives during the 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 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 Loyal War Governors' Conference, held at Altoona's Logan House.
Notable is the Horseshoe Curve, a famous curved section of track owned by the Pennsylvania Railroad, now a 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 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 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. Many of the historic treasures of the city's rich history are gone as well, including the Logan House Hotel.
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.

The Altoona Mirror newspaper, founded in 1876 by Harry Slep, is Altoona's oldest media outlet. Today, the newspaper has a daily circulation of 32,000 and a Sunday circulation of 39,000. Approximatley 13,000 people read the online edition of the newspaper each day.
Today, Altoona serves as the corporate home to Sheetz, a rapidly growing convenience store chain in the United States.

General Information

★ ZIP Codes: 16601, 16602, 16603

★ Area Code: 814

★ Local Phone Exchanges: 940, 941, 942, 943, 944, 946, 947, 949

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 25.3 km² (9.8 sq mi), all land.

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

Sections

The main sections of Altoona are the Dutch Hill area, the Downtown, East end, the Pleasant Valley region, the Plank Road Shopping district, Juniata, Logantown, Fairview, Eldorado, The Fifth Ward, and the Industrial Park.
The Dutch Hill area is near the schools, and stretches from 7th avenue to I-99 from 25th Street to Kettle Street, from Walton Avenue to I-99, this area is also known as the Pleasant Valley district.
The Downtown straddles the famous railroads, from 8th avenue to 14th avenue, up to 15th or 16th avenue in some parts (and Howard and Willow avenues in others), from 4th street to 18th street, although sometimes businesses slightly outside of this range will claim to be in downtown Altoona, but in reality are just outside of the downtown. Downtown Altoona is notable for having several churches, such as the Cathedral of The Blessed Sacrament on 13th street and 13th avenue, the Presbyterian church on 12th street and 14th avenue, the First Lutheran Church on 14th street and 12th avenue, along with several others. The Station Medical Center, formerly known as the Station Mall, was a downtown mall built during the 1970s in place of many old railroad shops.
The line between Downtown and Fairview is a bit blurred, since you see some elements of Fairview as low as 13th avenue, and some elements of the Downtown as far up as 17th avenue. At times, you see some single unit houses on 13th, 14th, and 15th avenues amongst much taller office, retail, and apartment buildings, and along parts of 16th, 17th, and 18th streets. The most striking example of this is the Penn Alto residential hotel on 13th avenue and 12th street, which has two single-unit houses next to it. Conversely, there are a few multistory residential and commercial buildings on 17th avenue, although they are the exception and not the norm. Fairview could be best described as the urban neighborhoods that you would expect to find just outside of a downtown.
The Industrial section is near Margaret Avenue, from 19th street to 29th street. Some of the Industrial section could be seen as an extension of the downtown, since, like with Fairview, the lines are blurred.
In addition to the lines being blurred between the Downtown and the Industrial section and Fairview, the lines between the School Zone of Dutch Hill and the Downtown are also being blurred, with the construction of the Altoona Area Junior High School.
Eldorado is the southern section of Altoona, past Logan Boulevard. This is where the Sheetz Headquarters is located. This is also known as "West Altoona", strangely, north Altoona is known also as "East Altoona".
Logantown is the area just north of the Downtown, even including some parts of the Downtown, this is where the Altoona Hospital, the tallest building in Altoona, is located. The lines are a bit less blurred with regards to the downtown, since it is generally agreed upon that the Downtown ends just beyond the Hospital, although some sources list the Altoona Hospital and all of its facilities, including the Home Nursing offices near Juniata Gap Road, as being in "downtown 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. Juniata was once its own city, but was incorporated into Altoona in the late 1800s, which is why Juniata appears to have its own miniature commercial district. The commercial district, sometimes nicknamed "downtown Juniata", is much like the commercial district along 29th street, at the end of the Industrial section, and the commercial district near the Bon Secour Hospital. To avoid the aforementioned street name confusion, many of the streets and avenues were given a "North" prefix.

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. 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 Railroaders Memorial Museum and the Horseshoe Curve are popular spots for railfans to take photos of passing trains.
In addition to the many freight trains, Amtrak's Pennsylvanian train stops at Altoona station once daily in each direction, and also makes use of the Horseshoe Curve.
Local bus service in the city is provided by AMTRAN. In 2007 AMTRAN customers suffered a major loss in service due to cuts in state funding. In May of that year, Gov. Rendell visited Altoona to discuss plans intended to rectify this situation.

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, 2.49% African American, 0.10% Native American, 0.32% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.24% from other races, and 0.83% from two or more races. Hispanic or 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 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.

Sports

Team	Sport	League	Championships	Venue
Altoona Curve	Baseball	Eastern League';' Southern Division	1	Blair County Ballpark

Altoona was the site of a 1.25 mile board track called Altoona Speedway from 1923 to 1931.^[1]

Education

Altoona has an education system that contains two high schools, one parochial, one public. Bishop Guilfoyle High School is the private parochial school having grades 9-12, located at 2400 Pleasant Valley. Blvd. Altoona Area High School houses grades 10-12, and is located at 711 7th St. Altoona High is much larger than Bishop Guilfoyle, graduating around 600 students annually, while Guilfoyle graduates around 100. Most athletic teams at Bishop Guilfoyle are the smallest classification within the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA), which is Class single A. In contrast, those at Altoona Area High School are the largest classification within the PIAA, which is AAAA. These high schools rarely compete against each other, except in basketball and tennis.
Altoona is also home to The Pennsylvania State University, Ivyside Park campus, also known as Penn State Altoona. This is the second largest of the Penn State Commonwealth Campuses. The college has approximately 3,800 students as of the 2006-07 school year.

Trivia

★ Donna Summer guest-starred in several episodes of Family Matters playing the role of Steve Urkel's (Jaleel White) relative, Aunt Oona, who hailed from Altoona, Pennsylvania.

★ Episodes of Law and Order SVU and Scrubs have also mentioned characters from Altoona, Pennsylvania.

★ David Letterman once said that his hairpiece was made in Altoona, Pennsylvania. This event made the lighthearted segment at the end of the local news.

★ In the movie Frankie and Johnny, Starring Al Pacino and Michelle Pfeiffer, both of their characters meet in New York City but are both originally from Altoona, Pennsylvania in the movie

★ George Burns wrote a book called "Living it Up, or They Still Love Me in Altoona!". The quote "They still love me in Altoona" became a running gag after Burns visited Altoona, PA.

★ During his travels, Babe Ruth played baseball in Altoona PA, at Cricket Field.

Notable people from Altoona

★ Harry J. Anslinger, first Commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics.

★ Michael Behe, professor of biochemistry, author, proponent of Intelligent Design.

★ Brad Benson, former professional football player, New York Giants.

★ Andrew Jackson Bettwy, Mayor of Nogales, Arizona (1935-1937).

★ Janet Blair, film 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.

★ Tommy Irwin, baseball player.

★ Mike Iuzzolino, basketball player.

★ 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 player.

★ 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.

★ Charlie Crist, Governor of Florida.

★ Joe Alianiello, Head Women's Soccer Coach at Concordia University, St. Paul.

★ Danny Fortson, professional basketball player (later moved to Pittsburgh) Seattle Supersonics

Sister cities

Altoona is a twin town with:

★ St. Pölten, Austria

See also

★ Mishler Theatre

References

1. Motorsport Memorial: Ray Keech, Retrieved July 24 2007

External links

★ Altoona Mirror newspaper

★ Altoona PA website

★ The Altoona Symphony Orchestra

★ The Mishler Theatre

★ Altoona Area Public Library

★ Altoona & Blair County Website Links

★ www.altoona.net

★ Altoona Fire Dept.

★ Altoona Symphony Orchestra

★ Horseshoe Curve from the Railroaders Memorial Museum

★ Altoona Area School District

★ Altoona and surrounding areas history and current information
; Nearby Attractions

★ Blue Knob Ski Resort
; Maps