Somerset County

Nestled between two hills, the village of Markleton is seven miles west of Rockwood and divided by the Casselman River, thus putting part of the town in Black township and the remainder in Upper Turkeyfoot township. Its beginnings, about 1880, coincide with the establishment of the Markle pulp works for which it is named. At … Read more

Listonburg is a small settlement, deriving its name from the Listons, who were the first to establish industries at this point. A tannery was started by John Liston about 1790. An oilmill was connected with it. This was destroyed by fire in 1834. The present tannery was erected about 1852, by Joseph Hendrickson. It is … Read more

The village of Lavansville is situated about four miles west of the county seat. Its name is derived from David Lavan, who owned the eastern part of the town site. The first building erected here, a hotel, was built by John Tantlinger, of Somerset, in 1803; the second and third being the shop and dwelling-house … Read more

Kingwood, a small village in the north central part of the township, was founded by Alexander W. Walter in 1854.It consists of about a dozen houses and up to the time of the completion of the railroad along the river, it was the business center of the township. The first dwelling house was built by … Read more

Jennerstown was named for Dr. Edward Jenner, the originator of vaccination. It was laid out under the name of “Jennersville” in 1822 by John Dennison, who owned the land and sold the first lots. The tract of land it was laid out on was originally warranted to James Wells and called “Well’s Escape” in honor … Read more

Jenner Crossroads, a small town in the southeastern part of the township, was a tavern stand on the Old Pennsylvania Road. Prior to the laying out of this village the land on which it is built was owned by Jonas Ankeny, Jesse Griffith and Frederick Althouse. Felix Launtz erected the first building in 1845. As … Read more

Hooversville is a small but pleasant village, situated in the midst of a fertile agricultural country. The first settler, on the land where the village now is, was Caspar Ripple, who obtained a warrant for the tract in 1794. Hooversville, however, is of modern growth. The first house in the village was built by George … Read more

Glencoe is a small town on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in the southeastern part of the township. The first settler on the tract now occupied by the town was Benjamin Critchfield who came from Maryland prior to 1793. At the latter date he obtained a warrant for one hundred and nineteen and one-half acres … Read more

Gebhartsburg (Gebhart’s postoffice) is a small collection of houses, one-half mile east of New Centreville. Village lots were laid out in this place on November 22, 1834, at the same time with New Centreville. George Gebhart was the founder of the place, and Simon Gebhart, his son, did the surveying. Until 1881, Gebhartsburg was the … Read more

Garrett borough, four miles west of Meyersdale, was laid out in 1869, by John Jacob Schell, Isaac Hugus, John D. Roddy and George D. Wolf, on land that was at one time owned by Peter P. H. Walker. This was before the completion of the railroad. The town did not build up very rapidly for … Read more