PRRPetersburgBranchRoute

Approx. location of canal lift lock

Historical canal towpath and PRR Petersburg Branch and current Lower Trail all use the same alignment east of High St.

Just outside map extent all three routes diverge from Frankstown Branch; the Lower Trail remains closer to the river until rejoining the historical routes at a re-purposed rail bridge

Paper mill waste site, now forested

Abutments and central bridge pier from conduit transporting paper mill waste remain.

Site of Williamsburg Manufacturing Company (paper mill) 1905-1980

Location of “diamond” or main civic square from original town plan

Former site of 1857 Juniata Iron Furnace next to Big Spring outlet

Remnant concrete structure next to piped outlet

Big Spring

?

? Establishment of Haudenosaunee Confederacy by Iroqouoian language nations around present day New York State

Iroquois-speaking Susquehannock people move into Lower Susquehanna Valley region, absorbing existing communities there. Among them were likely the Onojutta-Haga people, from whose name “Juniata” is derived

Indigenous history long precedes colonial documentation

1900 Pop. 935 Local iron industry stagnates as steel dominates

1905

Charles M. Schwab opens the Williamsburg Manufacturing Company. Locally born industrialist was persuaded by local leaders to build the paper mill, which also brings electricity to some homes for the first time. Building costs forced Schwab to sell the mill to Westvaco in 1907

PRR extends Williamsburg branch line to Petersburg, connecting it to the Pennsylvania Main Line - now called Petersburg Branch

1910 Schwab Hotel completed; Schwab would also build working housing collectively known as “Schwabtown”

1914

Penn Central Light & Power Co. opens Williamsburg Electric Generating Station

Paper Mill Era 1905-1944

1910-20s: High-end paper manufacturing and peak of prosperity

1640s

Dutch establish trading posts in Pennsylvania Haudenosaunee nations expand into present-day Pennsylvania through war and fur trade with Europeans Susquehannocks ally with Maryland in ongoing battles with the Haudenosaunee Confederacy

1681

King Charles II charters the colony of Pennsylvania, granting its lands to William Penn

1675

Weakened by European diseases and attacks, the Susquehannocks are defeated and scattered by the Haudenosaunee Confederacy

Occupants of rugged areas like Morrison’s Cove/Williamsburg are less well known than those in the broad fertile valley along the Susquehanna

1966

1976

1936

St. Patrick’s Day Flood severely damages paper mill and other infrastructure, slowing growth along with the Great Depression

Williamsburg Farm Show Assoc. reforms and holds annual show for the first time since incorporating in 1940 U.S. Envelope announces plans for $1.5 million expansion

1960 Pop. 1,790

1957

Led by coach Bill Casper, Williamsburg Blue Pirates win PIAA Class C basketball state championship, cementing a tradition of excellence in the sport. Baseball team wins Blair County league title, and football team is unbeaten

Conrail takes over operations of the bankrupt Penn Central Railroad, formerly PRR

1974

Historic paper mill closes; Westvaco operates newer envelope plant

1972

Hurricane Agnes floods the region, with Williamsburg hardest hit

Waste ash from power and paper plans accumulate on both sides of the river Paper production transition to envelopes and cardboard packaging

Water Dam

1958

1933 Passenger service on Petersburg Branch discontinued; freight service remains 1939

1967

1690s

Groups from the Algonquin-language Shawnee tribe settle in the Lower Susquehanna Valley

1713

Groups from the Tuscarora Nation begin fleeing war with Europeans in North Carolina. Seeking refuge with fellow Iroquois speakers, in the Haudenosaunee Confederacy to the north, some will spend time around present day Blair County. In 1722 the Tuscarora become the 6th nation in the Haudenosaunee Confederacy

1754

Pennsylvania leaders try to purchase the area from the Ridge and Valley province to today’s Ohio border from the Haudenosaunee nations, despite Shawnee, Lenape, and others living in that territory. They later settle on a smaller area including Blair County but the new Commonwealth negotiates deeds to the remainder of its current boundaries by 1800. Indigenous people remain today, but Pennsylvania does not recognize any national or tribal status

1789

Kittanning Trail (Frankstown Path) first used by indigenous people, expanded for use by wagons; called the “Great Road” from Harrisburg to Pittsburgh, it would become today’s State Rte 22

Colonial land acquisition in Pennsylvania through deeds and treaties 1719-1792

Displaced indigenous people flee to Haudenosaunee controlled lands in central PA

1795

Drawn by the potential of Big Spring to power milling, German immigrant Jacob Ake founds “Aketown,” later renamed Williamsburg after his son. Town is laid out on Philadelphia-style grid centered on a public square

1832

Pennsylvania Main Line Canal between Pittsburgh and Harrisburg (with rail connection to Philadelphia) opens section in Williamsburg, accelerating economic growth

1854

1873

PRR opens branch line from Hollidaysburg to Williamsburg, boosting commerce in iron, quarry, and farm products

1980

Historic paper mill facility demolished

1982

Conrail abandons Williamsburg freight line

Mid State Trail Association formed to maintain the 327-mile northsouth route across Pennsylvania, conceived in the late 1960s

1989

Rails to Trails buys 11 miles of Penn Central right of way (Williamsburg to Alfarata) with support from T. Dean Lower. Lower Trail is named for his late wife Jane and son Roger

1991

Penelec retires Williamsburg coal power plant; it is demolished years later, along with the dam on the Frankstown Branch that had supplied cooling water. Electrical substation is retained

1827 Williamsburg Borough first incorporated; reincorporated 1893

1840 Pop. 637

Pennsylvania Railroad Company (PRR) opens Main Line from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia, bypassing Williamsburg. Canal economy declines and it is sold to PRR in 1857, remaining open to ship Williamsburg’s iron and limestone until 1875

1857

Already running mills and a tannery, George Neff helps form the company that built the Juniata Iron Furnace on Front St

Canal Era 1832-1875

Railroad Era 1875-1905

2002

September 11th National Patriot Trail Alliance formed to plan a memorial trail linking sites in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New York; renamed to September 11th National Memorial Trail Alliance in 2009

2004

The remaining 5.5 miles of the Lower Trail from Williamsburg to Flowing Spring Station, near to Canoe Creek State Park, is acquired Allegheny Ridge releases Main Line Canal Greenway Plan

2018 Pop. 1,180

April 2022

Altoona Mirror notes the opening of several new Williamsburg businesses in conjunction with renewed interest around the Lower Trail

1,250

2011 MeadWestvaco sells envelope plant to Cenveo

C&S Family Markets closes Williamsburg grocery store

2021

DCNR opens the connector trail from the Lower Trail to Canoe Creek State Park, with support from Rails to Trails and PennDOT