Site Update…

On behalf of Pete Harmon and myself, we welcome all our members that have joined kittanning online.  A site such as this has been a dream of mine for a long time.  When I met Pete through the face book page for Kittanning, and discovered he too had a similar idea, we decided to work together to make it possible.   Our venture was moving like a snail for the past year until we became acquainted with Kathy Graff.  Her experience with web authoring,  as well as having the necessary materials for the creation of a site, seemed to be the additional person we needed on our staff.  She also has a passion for history and promoting the local community, so she offered to help in moving our plans forward.  All I can really say is…WOW!!!  In less than three months kittanning online launched.  KATHY…from Pete and myself………many thousand thanks to your efforts and hard work not only in creating our site, but assisting in updates and teaching Pete and I behind the scenes

Over the past week, there are just under one hundred people visiting the site on a daily basis.  Many of those hits are first time visitors.  Pete and I are encouraging everyone to sign up to the site.  There isn’t any obligation to do anything other than visit an enjoy the material being published.  We do welcome anyone that has material about Kittanning to share if you would like too, and if you are looking for something about Kittanning, you can post a query.  There is a good chance that someone will be able to assist you in your quest.

Over the past several days my ‘extra’ time has been comprised of research on hotels in Kittanning.  I am assisting Linda Mockenhaupt in the preparation of a continuing article in the Armstrong County Historical and Genealogical Society official publication.  If you aren’t a member of the historical society, I highly recommend joining and enjoying the article published by a wonderful group of volunteers.  I am planning on offering a sample of my work on here in the next few days about the hotels of Kittanning.  I know Pete is preparing additional George Young Then and Now articles and plans to publish one a week. I think!!  Our goal is to organize posts by detailed categories for a much easier way to locate individuals interests about Kittanning.  If anyone has ideas or suggestions, please contact Pete or myself and we will take each one under consideration..

Now, I can’t post something without offering something historic for our visitors to enjoy.  This picture comes to us by way of Buss Cravener.  It was taken during a flood in Kittanning.  The picture was taken on the 100 Block of N. McKean Street.  The large building at the right is the Post Office building, constructed about 1902 to house the Kittanning Post Office as well as addition storerooms.  In the distance you can see the tower on the old Baptist Church and the old Second Ward School.  In the center of the street run the trolley tracks that turn south onto Market Street. 

NOW….which flood is pictured here?  Kittanning survived two flood during this era.  The first was in 1905 and the second in 1913.  I was going to offer the answer in this post, but I think I will allow for our visitors to guess and offer their reasoning, if they have one, as to which flood they believe this to be.  You have a 50/50 chance of getting it correct.  I will give everyone a few days before I reveal which flood this was and why.

Wonderful flood scene from North McKean Street in Kittanning.

2 Replies to “Site Update…”

  1. Glad you remembered Buss!! There are two key items in this photo that create the obvious date to which flood this was. First The Baptist Church tower. This building took on many appearances from its early days. The building was originally facing Arch Street about half way between McKean and the alley. At that time it was the Second Presbyterian Church. Several additionals over the years changed the look and finally in 1908 the front facade was constructed with the McKean Street entrance and a tower over the foyer. This alone give away that this the 1913 flood. The other give a way for me is the Keystone building at the left. This three story brick structure was constructed in 1862 with a much different look. It was built as the Methodist Episcopal Church. After the congregation built their ‘new’ church on the corner of Vine and Jefferson in 1909, this building underwent a massive facelift and interior change. Hope all those that were guessing had the same date!!!!!

    🙂

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