Boswell

History

Boswell was settled in 1901 and incorporated as a borough on February 22, 1904. The community's founder was Thomas Taylor Boswell, the first president and supervisor of the Merchants Coal Company. Mr. Boswell's company purchased of mineral rights under local farmland and laid out 1,600 lots for coal company houses to house the miners for its new deep coal mine just to the north. Merchants Coal, and the related Orenda Coal, were subsidiaries of Hillman Coal and Coke Company of Pittsburgh, the same firm that built the neighboring town of Jerome, Pennsylvania. Merchants Coal attempted to build Boswell to be a notch above surrounding coal company towns in that plans included a central business district, a high school, and homes constructed from brick, as opposed to the wood used elsewhere. This also helped to prevent the spread of fire, in the event that one would break out. Many of the original brick homes are still standing, with much of their original integrity. A branch of the Baltimore & Ohio railroad served Boswell and its coal mine. At its economic peak shortly after World War II, Boswell boasted two movie theatres, three department stores, a bank, several jewelry stores, a druggist, two funeral homes, three grocery stores, nearly a dozen restaurants and taverns, a lumber yard, and a weekly newspaper. Earlier, pre-Prohibition, Boswell also housed its own brewery. Boswell's streets generally run perpendicular to its avenues, in a grid. Many of the avenues in Boswell are named after coal company officials. For example: * Hower Avenue, after Charles E. Hower, a Surveyor from Johnstown. * Morris Avenue, after W.H. Morris, a known builder from Johnstown * Atkinson Way, after W.G. Atkinson, the Vice President of Merchants Coal Company. At the same time, the borough's…

Geography

Boswell is located at (40.160329, -79.027712), approximately southwest of Altoona. According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of , all land.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  3,056
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  3,020
• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  2,657
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,581
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,415
• Song Sparrow

  Melospiza melodia (A.Wilson, 1810) · Aves
  2,346
• American Goldfinch

  Spinus tristis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,986
• Eastern Towhee

  Pipilo erythrophthalmus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,933

Largest nearby schools

• Conemaugh Twp Area MS/SHS
  High · Davidsville · 493 students · 13.7:1 ratio
• Conemaugh Twp Area El Sch
  Elementary · Johnstown · 389 students · 12.2:1 ratio
• North Star Central El Sch
  Elementary · Boswell · 376 students · 9.9:1 ratio
• North Star HS
  High · Boswell · 340 students · 13.1:1 ratio
• North Star East MS
  Middle · Stoystown · 271 students · 10.4:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 2.9 — 2020-10-06
  5 km WSW of Bolivar, Pennsylvania