HISTORY OF EBENSBURG

HISTORY OF EBENSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA

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The land comprising Ebensburg Borough was originally warranted to Thomas Martin. Martin conveyed his interest to Dr. Benjamin Rush, a Philadelphian prominent in the colonial history of Pennsylvania, to whom the Commonwealth issued a patent on February 10, 1795.

Late in the year 1796 a group of Welsh emigrants left Philadelphia to establish a home in the mountains. The leader of the Welsh emigrants was Rev. Rees Lloyd. The group included George and Hugh Roberts, William and Thomas Griffith, Thomas Phillips, Robert and William Williams, John Jenkins, James Evans and John Thomas, with their wives and families. Whether Rev. Lloyd negotiated with Dr. Rush before leaving the East is not known but the group settled on Dr. Rush's warrant on the plateau in the mountains, then covered with unbroken forest.

On August 8, 1804, Rev. Lloyd purchased from Dr. Rush a tract containing 401 acres which included the site of the borough. The settlement was named Ebensburg for Rev. Lloyd's son, Ebenerer, who died in infancy.

In April of 1797 the first church was built to the east of the settlement opposite what is now Lloyd's Cemetery. It was known as the Welsh Independent Church.

After the erection of the County in 1804, Ebensburg was chosen as the County seat. In competition for that honor were the villages of Beulah and Munster. Possibly the dominant factor in the designation of Ebensburg as the County seat was the donation by Rev. Rees Lloyd of approximately 104 acres of land for the public buildings and other use of the new County.

After its designation as the County seat, the town began to increase in importance and population so that in 1816 the population of the borough was 150 while the population of Johnstown was 60.

The original plot for the town consisted of 200 lots. At a later date "Mooretown" was laid out north of Homer Street.
With the construction of the Huntingdon, Cambria and Indiana Turnpike subsequent to 1810, Ebensburg became an important stopover for stages and Conestoga wagons traveling west.

Ebensburg was the first incorporated borough within Cambria County, having been created through an Act of Assembly January 18, 1825. Richard Lewis was the first burgess.

Rev. Peter H. Lemke became the resident pastor for the Catholics in the area on December 23, 1834. At that date he wrote that it was dangerous to go out after dark on account of the tree stumps and roots in the roads.

During 1808 the first Court House and jail were built. That building was placed on the northeast corner of the present Court House grounds. Constructed of logs, it was two stories in height-the lower story was used as a jail and the upper story as a Court room.

The first office space used by the Commissioners was in the home of Rees Lloyd. On December 26, 1810, the Commissioners moved their offices to the Court House.

The second building erected was an office for the Prothonotary and the Commissioners. It was begun in 1814 and stood about the center of the present square, facing Center Street.

The second Court House for Cambria County was erected on the northwest corner of the present lot, facing on Lloyd Street. This building was erected pursuant to a contract entered into by the Commissioners on August 26, 1828, and was not completed until 1830.

On November 24, 1847, the County Commisioners awarded a contract for a new jail for the sum of $3,584. The jail was occupied in May, 1849. It was built on the present Court House Square south of the Court House, fronting on Center Street.

The Court House on Lloyd Street served the people of the County until 1880 when the center of the present building was erected.

In 1869 a new jail was built on the present site. The construction of the new jail was undertaken at that date because of the agitation in connection with moving the County seat to Johnstown.

In September, 1818, the County Commissioners permitted the trustees of the Ebensburg School Society to erect a building for a schoolhouse on the public lots. The first school building was built in 1823 after the State Legislature created a corporation, "The Trustees of the Ebensburg Academy." This building stood on the southwest corner of the present Court House Square, fronting on Center Street. After 1834 the first public schools were built. Three one-room buildings were opened, one in each ward of the borough. One of the first school buildings stands to this day on the southwest corner of Sample and Marian Streets. In 1869 the Sisters of St. Joseph built and operated Mt. Gallitzin Seminary, a private school. This project continued until 1900 in the building now occupied by the Diocesan Infant Home. Because of its location on the mountaintop, Ebensburg became a famous summer resort. Late in the 19th century, Maple Park Springs, Lloyd Springs Hotel, Fenwick Hall and the Mountain House did a thriving business in entertaining summer visitors. Of these, the Lloyd Springs Hotel, built in 1871, and Maple Park Springs, built about 1886, (name changed. to Ebensburg Inn in 1900). were the most prominent. These large frame buildings have since been razed. A portion of Fenwick Hall remains on North Center Street. In addition to the hotels catering to summer visitors, a number of families, prominent among whom was the Phillips family, built summer cottages in Ebensburg. The first newspaper published in Ebensburg was "The Olive Branch and Cambrian Record," edited by Mr. Thomas Foley in 1818. The first paper, discontinued in 1820, was followed by "The Cambria Gazette" in 1824, "The Mountain Telegraph" in 1827 and "The Sky" in 1831. In May, 1836, "The Sky" ceased publication. In the meantime "The Cambria Democrat" and "The Mountain Clarion" had short lives. Other newspapers came and went until "The Alleghenian" was established on a firm basis in August, 1859. This paper, which later changed its name to "The Cambria Herald" and combined with "The Mountaineer Herald" in 1898, has come down to the present date. (1955) Although there is a record of action with respect to the appointment of firemen by the Ebensburg Borough Council in March, 1826, it appears that the permanent organization of a fire company was effected on February 2, 1872. This organization, now known as the Dauntless Fire Company, has had a continuous existence since that date. The Ebensburg and Cresson Railroad Company built a branch railroad line into Ebensburg, a distance of 11 miles, completed in July, 1862. This railroad had an unprofitable existence for many years and was sold by the sheriff on May 8, 1891. In April, 1892, after the branch line had been acquired by The Pennsylvania Railroad Company, surveys were made to extend the branch down the Blacklick Creek. In January, 1895, Ebensburgers were gratified by seeing a coal train of 20 cars pass through the town. Railroad passenger service was discontinued in 1947. In January, 1912, the Southern Cambria Street Railway connected Ebensburg and Johnstown with the completion of the interurban trolley line. Later the line was extended linking Ebensburg with Nanty Glo. Service was discontinued on December 17, 1928.