Garrett is a

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English language, 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 Somerset County,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, United States. It is part of the

Johnstown, Pennsylvania Johnstown is the largest city in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 18,411 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located east of Pittsburgh, it is the principal city of the Metropolitan statistical area ...

, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 416 at the 2020 census.

History

Garrett was first settled in 1869 and was incorporated in 1900. Garrett is named for the president of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad John Work Garrett. John W. Garrett served as president of the

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the oldest railroads in North America, oldest railroad in the United States and the first steam engine, steam-operated common carrier. Construction of the line began in 1828, and it operated as B&O from 1830 ...

from 1858–1884 and was born in

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

, on July 31, 1820. He was the second son of Elizabeth Stouffer and Robert Garrett. He married Rachel Ann Harrison, the daughter of Thomas Harrison, a Baltimore

merchant A merchant is a person who trades in goods produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Merchants have been known for as long as humans have engaged in trade and commerce. Merchants and merchant networks operated i ...

. They had one daughter, Mary and two sons, Robert and Thomas Harrison Garrett. During the height of the

Baltimore & Ohio Railroad The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the oldest railroad in the United States and the first steam-operated common carrier. Construction of the line began in 1828, and it operated as B&O from 1830 until 1987, when it was merged into the Chessie ...

, Garrett served as the junction of its

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

Division with its

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

branch. The Berlin Branch Railroad was originally built by the Buffalo Valley Railroad Company in 1871. This 8.5 mile branch line connected Berlin to the main B&O line (also known as the Pittsburgh & Connellsville Railroad) as it passed through Garrett, and it was taken over by the B&O itself in 1880. There were seven stations located along the Berlin branch as it ran northeast along the Buffalo Creek valley: Garrett, Burkholder, Buchle, Bitner, Pine Hill, Hanger's, and Berlin. A view of Garrett appeared in a collection of photographs from along the B&O's lines that was published in book form in 1872 and digitized by the DeGolyer Library,

Southern Methodist University Southern Methodist University (SMU) is a Private university, private research university in Dallas, Texas, United States, with a satellite campus in Taos County, New Mexico. SMU was founded on April 17, 1911, by the Methodist Episcopal Church, ...

. The

Western Maryland Railroad The Western Maryland Railway was a small American Class I railroad (1852–1983) that operated in 3 Southern US States, Maryland ( Western Region), West Virginia ( Eastern Region), and Pennsylvania (Southern Region) in the Allegheny Regions of ...

ran in an East to West direction on the Brooklyn side of Garrett. It is the current site of the

Great Allegheny Passage The Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) is a rail trail A rail trail or railway walk is a shared-use path on a Right of way#Rail right of way, railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the t ...

. A 150-mile system of biking and hiking trails connecting

Cumberland, Maryland Cumberland is a city in Allegany County, Maryland, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 19,075. Located on the Potomac River, Cumberland is a regional business and comm ...

and

that was constructed on the former Western Maryland railroad bed. The Connellsville Extension of the Western Maryland Railroad was built west from Cumberland, Maryland, to

Connellsville, Pennsylvania Connellsville is a City (Pennsylvania), city in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, United States, southeast of Pittsburgh and away via the Youghiogheny River, a tributary of the Monongahela River. It is part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. Th ...

, beginning around 1906 and was completed in 1912. In 1964, the

Chesapeake and Ohio Railway The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway was a Class I railroad formed in 1869 in Virginia from several smaller Virginia railroads begun in the 19th century. Led by industrialist Collis Potter Huntington, it reached from Virginia's capital city of Rich ...

(C&O) and the

(B&O) jointly filed for permission to acquire control of the Western Maryland Railway with the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC). In 1973, as part of the Chessie System, the Western Maryland ownership went to C&O and it was operated by the B&O. In 1987, it was merged into the C&O which itself became part of

CSX Transportation CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad company operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Operating about 21,000 route miles () of track, it is the lead ...

Geography

Garrett is located at (39.863563, -79.061159). According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the borough has a total area of , all land. Garrett is located along Summit Township's border with Brothersvalley Township. Garrett sits at the confluence of the Buffalo Creek and the Casselman River. The

Casselman River The Casselman River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed August 15, 2011 tributary of the Youghiogheny River in western Maryland and Pennsylvania in the United States.G ...

is believed to be named for the Landgraviate of

Hesse-Kassel The Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel (), spelled Hesse-Cassel during its entire existence, also known as the Hessian Palatinate (), was a state of the Holy Roman Empire. The state was created in 1567 when the Landgraviate of Hesse was divided upon t ...

or Hesse-Cassel in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. An

imperial immediacy In the Holy Roman Empire, imperial immediacy ( or ) was the status of an individual or a territory which was defined as 'immediate' () to Emperor and Empire () and not to any other intermediate authorities, while one that did not possess that stat ...

(German: ''Reichsfreiheit'' or ''Reichsunmittelbarkeit'') which was a privileged feudal and political status, a form of statehood, which a city, religious entity or feudal principality of minor lordship could attain within the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

Transportation

The eastern terminus of Pennsylvania Route 653 is at the Mason Dixon Highway in Garrett; from there, Pennsylvania Route 653 runs northwest to Rockwood.

Demographics

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 449 people, 168 households, and 128 families residing in the borough. The population density was . There were 180 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the borough was 99.55%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, and 0.45% from two or more races. There were 168 households, out of which 33.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.3% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 10.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.8% were non-families. 21.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.67 and the average family size was 3.07. In the borough the population was spread out, with 26.9% under the age of 18, 10.0% from 18 to 24, 26.5% from 25 to 44, 20.0% from 45 to 64, and 16.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 98.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.8 males. The median income for a household in the borough was $24,609, and the median income for a family was $27,375. Males had a median income of $23,542 versus $15,625 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the borough was $10,935. About 12.1% of families and 15.8% 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 ...

, including 17.3% of those under age 18 and 15.3% of those age 65 or over. Notable landmarks in Garrett include a 10 MW

wind farm A wind farm, also called a wind park or wind power plant, is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electricity. Wind farms vary in size from a small number of turbines to several hundred wind turbines covering an exten ...

, the first large-scale wind facility constructed in the eastern U.S.

References

External links