Cresson is a

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...

Cambria County Cambria County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 133,472. Its county seat is Ebensburg. The county was created on March 26, 1804, from parts of Bedford, Huntingdon, and Somerset Countie ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, United States. Cresson is east of

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

. It is above in elevation. Lumber, coal, and coke yards were industries that had supported the population which numbered 1,470 in 1910. The borough is part of the Johnstown

Metropolitan Statistical Area In the United States, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the area. Such regions are neither legally Incorporated town, incorporate ...

, although state and local sources list it as part of the Altoona area due to being much closer to that city. The population of Cresson at the 2010 census was 1,711. The location was named in 1854 as a memorial to philanthropist

Elliott Cresson Elliott Cresson (March 2, 1796 – February 20, 1854) was an American philanthropist who gave money to a number of causes after a brief career in the mercantile business. He established the Elliott Cresson Medal of the Franklin Institute in 184 ...

. Railroads, beginning with the

Allegheny Portage Railroad The Allegheny Portage Railroad was the first railroad constructed through the Allegheny Mountains in central Pennsylvania, United States; it operated from 1834 to 1854 as the first transportation infrastructure through the gaps of the Allegheny ...

, fueled the growth of the area. Many famous Pittsburgh businessmen, including Charles M. Schwab,

Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie (, ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans i ...

, and

Henry Clay Frick Henry Clay Frick (December 19, 1849 – December 2, 1919) was an American industrialist, financier, and art patron. He founded the H. C. Frick & Company coke manufacturing company, was chairman of the Carnegie Steel Company, and played a major ...

, maintained summer residences in the area. The borough was incorporated in 1906, along with neighboring Sankertown.

Geography

Cresson is located in eastern Cambria County at (40.462631, -78.586319), atop the

Eastern Continental Divide The Eastern Continental Divide, Eastern Divide or Appalachian Divide is a hydrographic divide in eastern North America that separates the easterly Atlantic Seaboard watershed from the westerly Gulf of Mexico watershed. The divide nearly span ...

, the height of land between the Eastern Seaboard of the United States and the

Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...

valley. The

Little Conemaugh River The Little Conemaugh River is a tributary of the Conemaugh River, approximately 30 mi (48 km) long, in western Pennsylvania in the United States. The main branch rises in eastern Cambria County, along the western slope of the Appalachi ...

rises in Cresson, flowing southwest to form the

Conemaugh River The Conemaugh River is a long tributary of the Kiskiminetas River in Westmoreland, Indiana, and Cambria counties in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The name means 'Otter Creek', originating from the Unami-Lenape language word ''kwənəmuxkw'' ...

, which in turn flows to the

Kiskiminetas River The Kiskiminetas River (commonly referred to as the Kiski by locals) is a tributary of the Allegheny River, approximately long, in Western Pennsylvania in the United States. The region stretching from the northern side of Harmar Township, Penns ...

, then the

Allegheny River The Allegheny River ( ) is a long headwater stream of the Ohio River in western Pennsylvania and New York (state), New York. The Allegheny River runs from its headwaters just below the middle of Pennsylvania's northern border northwesterly into ...

, the

, and finally the

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

. The north side of Cresson, meanwhile, drains north to

Clearfield Creek Clearfield Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed August 8, 2011 tributary of the West Branch Susquehanna River in Cambria and Clearfield counties, Pennsylvania, in ...

, a tributary of the

West Branch West Branch may refer to: Communities * West Branch, Iowa, city in Cedar and Johnson counties * West Branch, Michigan, city in Ogemaw County * West Branch, New Brunswick, in the Local Service District of Weldford Parish * West Branch River John, i ...

of the

Susquehanna River The Susquehanna River (; Lenape: Siskëwahane) is a major river located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, overlapping between the lower Northeast and the Upland South. At long, it is the longest river on the East Coast of the ...

, leading to

Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the ...

. Blair Gap, at the eastern edge of the

Allegheny Plateau The Allegheny Plateau , in the United States, is a large dissected plateau area of the Appalachian Mountains in western and central New York, northern and western Pennsylvania, northern and western West Virginia, and eastern Ohio. It is divide ...

and east of town, is the location of the

National Historic Site, where the first railroad (a

portage railway A portage railway is a short and possibly isolated section of railway used to bypass a section of unnavigable river or between two water bodies which are not directly connected. Cargo from waterborne vessels is unloaded, loaded onto conventional ...

) crossed the

Allegheny Mountains The Allegheny Mountain Range (; also spelled Alleghany or Allegany), informally the Alleghenies, is part of the vast Appalachian Mountain Range of the Eastern United States and Canada and posed a significant barrier to land travel in less devel ...

. Cresson is bypassed to the south and east by

U.S. Route 22 U.S. Route 22 (US 22) is a west–east route and is one of the original United States highways of 1926, running from Cincinnati, Ohio, at US 27, US 42, US 127, and US 52 to Newark, New Jersey, at U.S. Route 1/9 in the Newark Airport Intercha ...

, a four-lane expressway, with access from two exits:

Pennsylvania Route 53 Pennsylvania Route 53 (PA 53) is an state highway located in central Pennsylvania. The southern terminus of the route is at U.S. Route 219 (US 219) near the borough of Summerhill. The northern terminus is at PA 144 in the Snow Shoe ...

(Second Street) on the south, and the Admiral Peary Highway (former US 22) on the east. Altoona is to the northeast via US 22 and

Interstate 99 Interstate 99 (I-99) is an Interstate Highway in the United States with two segments: one located in central Pennsylvania, and the other in southern New York. The southern terminus of the route is near exit 146 of the Pennsylvania Turn ...

, while

Ebensburg Ebensburg is a borough and the county seat of Cambria County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It is located west of Altoona and surrounded by Cambria Township. It is situated in the Allegheny Mountains at about above sea level. Ebensburg is ...

, the Cambria County seat, is to the west. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

, the borough has a total area of , all of it land.

History

Mountainhouse era

One of the first buildings in the area which would become Cresson was the Mountainhouse Hotel. The Queen Anne style structure was opened by the

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...

in 1881, sold to the Cresson Springs Co., and demolished in 1916. It was hoped to attract visitors from Pittsburgh and Johnstown looking for clean air and "therapeutic" mineral springs. Although itself unsuccessful, it led to the development of several other hotels, companies, and the town itself. The area is currently known as the "Mountainhouse Grounds" to local residents and is in the midst of development. Several of the original cottages still stand, including those of

and Benjamin Jones.Anne Francis Pulling. ''Around Cresson and the Alleghenies''.

Stereographs of R.A. Bonine

Photographer R.A. Bonine of Altoona took several

stereographs Stereoscopy (also called stereoscopics, or stereo imaging) is a technique for creating or enhancing the illusion of depth in an image by means of stereopsis for binocular vision. The word ''stereoscopy'' derives . Any stereoscopic image is ...

of the Cresson area, including the Mountainhouse during the 1870-1880s. The following were included in his series "Views Among the Alleghenies". File:Cresson, a summer resort on the P. R. R. among the wilds of the Alleghenies, by R. A. Bonine 4.jpg, Mountainhouse Hotel File:Winter at Cresson, summer resort, on the P. R. R. among the wilds of the Alleghenies, by R. A. Bonine 10.jpg, Cresson Springs Co. Building File:Cresson, a summer resort on the P. R. R. among the wilds of the Alleghenies, by R. A. Bonine 8.jpg, Hotel from Railroad Station File:P. R. R. Depot at Cresson, looking east, by R. A. Bonine 2.jpg, Railroad Depot (looking east) File:Cresson, a summer resort on the P. R. R. among the wilds of the Alleghenies, by R. A. Bonine 10.jpg, Muller Cottage

Demographics

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

of 2000, there were 1,631 people, 726 households, and 426 families residing in the borough. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...

was 3,297.7 people per square mile (1,285.2/km²). There were 786 housing units at an average density of 1,589.2 per square mile (619.3/km²). The racial makeup of the borough was 98.90%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

, 0.12%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 0.37%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, 0.25% from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

, and 0.37% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

of any race were 0.74% of the population. There were 726 households, out of which 26.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.9% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...

living together, 13.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.3% were non-families. 36.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.23 and the average family size was 2.94. In the borough, the population was spread out, with 21.0% under the age of 18, 10.3% from 18 to 24, 27.5% from 25 to 44, 22.2% from 45 to 64, and 19.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 85.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.8 males. The median income for a household in the borough was $26,293, and the median income for a family was $34,900. Males had a median income of $30,972 versus $21,853 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the borough was $15,562. About 13.7% of families and 16.8% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

, including 16.4% of those under age 18 and 6.4% of those age 65 or over.

Education

* Mount Aloysius College, a four-year Roman Catholic institution, is located in Cresson. *

Penn Cambria School District Penn Cambria School District is a small, rural, public school district located in Cambria County, Pennsylvania. The district serves the boroughs of Ashville, Cresson, Gallitzin, Lilly, Loretto, Sankertown and Tunnelhill in both Blair Count ...

, a K-12 public school district, has administrative offices in Cresson; the district covers neighboring areas as well as Cresson. Penn Cambria Pre-Primary and Penn Cambria High School are located in Cresson.

Notable people

Robert Edwin Peary Robert Edwin Peary Sr. (; May 6, 1856 – February 20, 1920) was an American explorer and officer in the United States Navy who made several expeditions to the Arctic in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He is best known for, in Apri ...

, Sr - American Explorer

References

External links

Cresson Area Chamber of Commerce
{{authority control Populated places established in 1902 Boroughs in Cambria County, Pennsylvania