Apollo

History

The area was sectioned in 1769, following the Treaty of Fort Stanwix, as a farm known as "Warren's Sleeping Place", named after a Native American trader from the area named Edward Warren. It was soon surveyed and divided into lots, with the town of Warren officially being added to the Greensburg register on November 9, 1816. The present name is after Apollo, the Greek and Roman god of music, healing, light, prophecy and enlightenment. By the late 19th century the Apollo Iron & Steel Company dominated the local economy. In 1895, the company's president, George Gibson McMurtry, hired prominent landscape architects Olmsted, Olmsted and Eliot to design a town for Apollo Iron & Steel's workers. The result was the neighboring town of Vandergrift. In 1911, Apollo became home to the first public library in Armstrong County. The Roaring Run Recreation Area is located one mile upriver (southeast) of Apollo and can be accessed via the Apollo Kiski River Trail. Stone remnants of the Western Division of the Pennsylvania Mainline Canal, that passed through Apollo and operated between 1825 and 1850, can be found along the Roaring Run Trail. The canal made use of the Kiskiminetas River using a system of slackwater dams, and the boats floated on the river, entering a lock located at the mouth of Roaring Run. From there the canal ran along the path of the current Roaring Run Trail, through the entire length of the borough, entering the Kiskiminetas River again across the river from where the current borough of East Vandergrift is situated. The borough suffered significant damage in the 1936 St. Patrick's Day flood. The Kiskiminetas River rose more than 15 feet above flood stage. 95 area homes were damaged or washed away and the borough's bridge was destroyed, according to the Apollo…

Geography

Apollo is located on the Kiskiminetas River at (40.584103, -79.564363). According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of , of which is land and , or 12.43%, is water.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  9,547
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  8,503
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  8,130
• Song Sparrow

  Melospiza melodia (A.Wilson, 1810) · Aves
  7,890
• Tufted Titmouse

  Baeolophus bicolor (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  7,667
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  7,453
• Red-bellied Woodpecker

  Melanerpes carolinus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  7,123
• Carolina Wren

  Thryothorus ludovicianus (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  6,694

Most recent

• M 2.5 — 2024-09-11
  4 km WNW of Claysville, Pennsylvania
• M 2.9 — 2020-10-06
  5 km WSW of Bolivar, Pennsylvania