Quintessential Pennsylvania

BEALLSVILLE - Washington County town located on US 40.  The community was named after Zephaniah Beall in 1819. How To Get There:

  BIGLERVILLE - Founded 1817. Named for Governor William Bigler. Home of the National Apple Museum , Biglerville was renamed from Middletown in 1903, as there was another borough named Middletown located in Pennsylvania. How to Get There: Sources and Links: The Borough of Biglerville - History

BENDERSVILLE - Founded 1832. Named for Henry Bender, pioneer. Bendersville is located in Adams County, just north of the borough of Biglersville. How to Get There:

  BLUE BALL - Founded 1766. This community in Lancaster County's East Earl Township was named for the Blue Ball Hotel. While the name of this town in the Pennsylvania Dutch Country may make some people giggle, the origins of the town name of Blue Ball are pretty straight forward. The town is named after an 18th Century inn which was located in the town. The owner hung a blue ball on the building, referring to the inn as "The Sign of the Blue Ball." The name stuck as people recognized the inn for its blue ball, and the rest is history. How To Get There: Sources and Links: Discover Lancaster - The Wacky Town Names of Lancaster County

  BENTON - Founded 1793. Named for township from which it was formed. While settlers first came to the Benton area during the 1790s from New Jersey and New York as well as Berks and Northampton Counties in Pennsylvania for agricultural opportunities in the Fishing Creek area, Benton was established as a township in 1850. Some reports state that Benton was named for Senator Thomas Hart Benton  from Missouri, who served in the U.S. Senate for thirty years. The majority of Benton’s growth took place after 1860, which coincided with the rise of the lumber and tanning industries north of town. A series of devastating fires severely undermined the growth and prosperity of the borough of Benton during the early years of 20th century. Most notably was the great fire of 1910. A major part of the community was lost, including 38 houses, 48 barns, the post office, a bank, a department store, the meeting hall, along with many other businesses in Benton. Less than a year later, a fire ripp...

  BLOSSBURG - Founded 1802. Named for Aaron Bloss - first settler. Located in Tioga County in the northern Pennsylvania Wilds , Blossburg was once known as Peters Camp, and it was where coal was discovered in 1792 by the Patterson brothers, who were noted Indian scouts. William B. Wilson , who was the first Secretary of Labor of the United States of America, served in that role from 1913 to 1921. Secretary Wilson was born in Scotland, but lived a large portion of his life in Blossburg. Wilson also served in the U.S. Congress, was a coal miner and a labor leader during his life. Blossburg was also the site of the the first plane crash investigation led by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), when Mohawk Airlines Flight 40 had crashed in Blossburg in June 1967, killing all 34 people aboard the plane that was traveling from Elmira, New York to Washington, D.C. How to Get There: Sources and Links: Blossburg.org - About Blossburg

Located in Southern Indiana County on the north shore of the Conemaugh River, Blairsville was settled in 1818 and incorporated in 1825.   James Campbell named the town after John Blair of Huntington .  Because of its location along the Conemaugh River, Blairsville has a storied manufacturing history, plate glass and lumber being two of the larger ones throughout its history.  Blairsville's population peaked at over 5,200 residents in 1930 but has since declined to just over 3,200. The Einstein Block Building -  Built in 1904, it was once an opera house. Blairsville was a key point in the Underground Railroad.  Here, many freedom-seeking slaves continued their journey northward towards Canada with the assistance of over 90 different 'conductors' within Indiana County.  The Blairsville Area Underground Railroad History Center is located at the site of the former Second Baptist Church.  From there, you can embark on a guided journey throughout India...

(Editor's note: This feature was originally published on gribblenation.org on December 31, 2011. Feature moved and updated to Quintessential Pennsylvania.) Butler is a unique town of 15,000 located about 35 miles north of Pittsburgh. It is the county seat of Butler County. The County Courthouse (shown below) was built in 1885 and is still in use today. One of the more unique buildings in Bulter is the Butler County Motor Company Ford Dealership .  The dealership's building was constructed in 1918 and has been owned and operated by the Cramer/Glasgow family since 1926. This is the first time I had seen an automotive dealer be housed in a multi-story building like this. The Butler County Motor Company (aka Butler County Ford) has been around since 1918 and was one of the first Ford automotive dealerships authorized by Henry Ford. Walking down Main Street in Butler - there are numerous great older buildings, storefronts, and ghost signs. One of the buildings that caught my eye at...

  BELLE VERNON- Founded 1813.  The town was laid out by Noah Speer - whose family the nearby town Speers is named after.  Belle Vernon - originally named "Bellevernon " is French for "Beautiful Green". Speer's son, Louis, would found and lay out the town of North Belle Vernon in 1872.  The neighboring town of Speers was laid out in 1860.

BOSTON - Founded 1886.  Named after Boston, Massachusetts.  This community within Elizabeth Township sits along the Youghiogheny River.  Boston was one of the first trailheads along the Great Allegheny Passage - a very popular Rail Trail that runs from Pittsburgh to Washington, DC.

BEAVER - Founded 1778.  Named after King Beaver of the Lenni-Lenape Indian tribe.  Lenni-Lenape are known to us as the Delaware Indians and "Lenni-Lenape" means "true man" or "common people". Photo taken by Doug Kerr.