Apollo Borough

Armstrong County, Pennsylvania

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Apollo Borough Hall is located at 405 N. Pennsylvania Avenue, Apollo PA 15613.
Phone: 724‑478‑4201.

Beginnings [1]

By act of Assembly March 15, 1848, Warren, then in the township of Kiskiminetas, was incorporated into the borough of Apollo. One reason for changing its name was because goods shipped from the East were often carried past it to Warren, in Warren County, Pennsylvania. The old boundaries have been repeatedly extended to meet the demands of this growing town.

The first borough election was held May 8, 1848, when Robert McKissen was elected burgess, and William Nichols, William Miller, George C. Bovard, John T. Smith, John Elwood and David Risher town councilmen. The population at that time was 359 whites and two colored.

The location of Apollo has many natural advantages, situated as it is on a sloping plain in a beautiful cove of the Kiskiminetas, with a fine outlook on every side. The recent rehabilitation of the iron industry will greatly increase the population.

Apollo was formerly called "Warren," from either a trader or an Indian chief who bore that name. It obtained the title through the location of a grave, said to be that of an Indian chief, about a mile below the town. On an ancient map this grave was given the name of "Warren's Sleeping Place." John Cochran and Abraham Ludwig cleared the principal part of the land on which the town afterward was built. The first settlers before the Pennsylvania canal was built were: Joseph Alford, John Cochran, Abraham Ludwig, Isaac McLaughlin, Michael Risher, Robert Stewart and John Wort.

Before the establishment of the post office here, August 15, 1827, the points nearest to Warren for receiving mail matter were Freeport and Kittanning. Milton Dally was the first postmaster. The department gave this office a name different from that of the town, because there was another office in this State by the name of Warren. During 1913 there were two postmasters, Charles S. Hegeman and J. Gallagher, the former resigning before his term had expired. The town of Warren was surveyed off into lots, streets and alleys by William Watson, in November, 1816. These lots were fifty in number and respectively 66 by 165 feet, each containing a quarter of an acre. Water (now Canal) and Back (now Church) streets are parallel to the Kiskiminetas river — the former being from 90 to 100 and the latter 60 feet wide, and are intersected at right angles by North, Main, Indiana and Coal Bank streets, each 60 feet wide. An alley 30 feet wide intersects Water street between lots Nos. 20 and 21 and Back street between lots Nos. 11 and 30. Four other alleys parallel to Water and Back streets are respectively 12 feet wide. Two acres adjoining Back street and opposite the eastern end of Main street and lots Nos. 10 and 11 were laid out agreeably to the terms of sale of the town lots free of charge, as a location for a meeting-house, schoolhouse and cemetery.

Rev. William Speer and William Johnson laid out the town. The first houses built were four log structures on what is now known as Second street. The first one completed was the old McMullen house. The Guthrie. Chambers, Truby, Bovard, Jackson and Miller additions have since been included in the town of Apollo.

  1. Armstrong County Pennsylvania: Her People Past and Present, Volume I, J. H. Beers & Co., Chicago, 1914

Nearby Towns: Gilpin Twp • Leechburg Boro • Vandergrift Boro •


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