Huntingdon Borough Historic District

Huntingdon Borough's historic district occupies the southern end of the borough between the Juniata River and a steep hill, and holds about 521 buildings, most of them brick or frame, two and three stories tall. Founded as a proprietary town in 1766 by William Smith, it became county seat in 1787. Its position on the river, and on the turnpike completed in 1820, the Pennsylvania Canal reaching the town in 1832, and the Pennsylvania Railroad arriving in 1850, made it a busy stop for travelers and freight. The district's businesses formed the largest commercial center in Huntingdon County. Its architecture is notable for the number of nineteenth-century buildings, including Federal houses such as the Saxton House of 1840, Italianate buildings, and the Blair Building of 1889, once the tallest between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. Most of the district's buildings date from 1820 to 1900, and the district is regarded as containing one of the best collections of such architecture in the county.