Ebensburg

History

Ebensburg originated in November 1796, when Congregational minister Rees Lloyd led a small party of 20 Welsh people from Philadelphia to the lands that Morgan John Rhees had chosen for his colony. They selected an attractive spot in the tops of the Allegheny Mountains and settled what would become Ebensburg. They named it for the minister's son Eben Lloyd, who had died in childhood. Lloyd offered land to the government in exchange for Ebensburg becoming the county seat, which the government accepted. A nearby settlement by the name of Beula, Pennsylvania, had sprouted just to the west of the town, with its own intentions of becoming the county seat. With the decision made, Beula faded into obscurity. All that remains is its old cemetery. Ebensburg was described in the 1940 Pennsylvania guide as being: According to the book Cambria County Pioneers (1910), a General William Rudolph Smith, son of William Rudolph Smith, and referred to as "Captain" by residents, lived in the town of Ebensburg, Pennsylvania in the 1840s. He raised a Company of men known as the Cambria Guards who would serve in the Mexican–American War, but Smith could not go. He was "universally accepted as an authority in literary matters and upon historical subjects particularly he was a veritable encyclopedia. His literary style was forcible, direct, and elegant." The Company he raised would embark to the South in January 1847, becoming Company D of the Second Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers, called the Highlanders and had "a very pleasant trip" on their way to New Orleans. They did not see combat until August that year as smallpox put the company in quarantine. Shortly after their release, they saw heavy combat at Contreras, Churubusco, and Chapultepec. Following this they were encamped at a…

Geography

Ebensburg is located in the center of Cambria County at (40.486388, -78.725461). Three U.S. highways pass through and intersect around Ebensburg: U.S. Route 22 runs along the southern border of the borough, leading east to Hollidaysburg, south of Altoona, and west to Pittsburgh. U.S. Route 219 bypasses the borough to the west, with access from two exits (U.S. 22 and U.S. 422). US 219 leads north to DuBois and south to Somerset. Finally, the western portion of U.S. Route 422 begins at US 219 on the west side of Ebensburg and leads west to the borough of Indiana. Johnstown, the largest city in Cambria County, is to the southwest via US 219 and Pennsylvania Route 56. According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough of Ebensburg has a total area of , of which is land and , or 2.13%, is water.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  2,062
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  1,955
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,495
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,442
• Song Sparrow

  Melospiza melodia (A.Wilson, 1810) · Aves
  1,371
• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  1,274
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,162
• Eastern Towhee

  Pipilo erythrophthalmus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,015

Largest nearby schools

• Penn Cambria HS
  High · Cresson · 567 students · 14.9:1 ratio
• Central Cambria HS
  High · Ebensburg · 559 students · 16:1 ratio
• Cambria Heights El Sch
  Elementary · Carrolltown · 535 students · 12.2:1 ratio
• Penn Cambria MS
  Middle · Gallitzin · 468 students · 15.1:1 ratio
• Cambria El Sch
  Elementary · Ebensburg · 450 students · 12.2:1 ratio
• Portage Area El Sch
  Elementary · Portage · 448 students · 12.8:1 ratio
• Central Cambria MS
  Middle · Ebensburg · 379 students · 13.1:1 ratio
• Portage Area JSHS
  High · Portage · 359 students · 14.4:1 ratio

Most recent

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