Huntingdon Map
Huntingdon is a borough in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania. It is the county seat of Huntingdon County. It is located along the Juniata River, 98 miles (158 km) west of Harrisburg, about halfway between Pittsburgh and Harrisburg, in an agricultural and fruit-growing region, with valuable forests and deposits of iron, coal, fire clay, and limestone. In the past, Huntingdon had manufactures of flour, machinery, radiators, furniture, stationery, woolen goods, lumber, etc. It also was the junction of the Huntington & Broad Top Mountain RR with the Pennsylvania Railroad, and a port on the Main Line of Public Works of the Pennsylvania Canal. Huntingdon is home to Juniata College, originally founded by the Church of the Brethren in 1876. It is also the largest borough located closest to Raystown Lake. Its population was 6,918 people at the 2000 census.
Huntingdon was settled in 1767 by the Rev. Dr. William Smith on the site of a famous Indian council ground, near the spot where Standing Stone Creek flows into the Juniata River. The spot was marked by the erection of a "Standing Stone Monument" erected at the borough centenary and rumored to exist before the founding of the original village which was called Standing Stone. The land was purchased by Dr. Smith in 1766 for 300 British Pounds. He later renamed the settlement in honor of Selina, the Countess of Huntingdon, England. The original charter of incorporation to a borough was adopted in 1796. In 1900, Huntingdon was the home of 6,053 people; in 1910, 6,861 people; and in 1940, 7,170 people.
During Hurricane Ivan in 2004, the borough was hit hard with flooding. The high school football field, Route 26 underpass under the railroad tracks, and many other areas in and around Huntingdon were flooded. The only way in an out of the borough was a township-owned road located in Oneida Township that goes up on top of Stone Creek Ridge. It was the worst flooding since Hurricane Agnes in 1972.
Nearby cities include Williamsburg, Cassville, Shirleysburg, Belleville, Orbisonia.