Union Depot and Hunt Signal Tower
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Huntingdon County Chamber of Commerce (Union Depot and Hunt Signal Tower)
1872 depot. 4th and Allegheny sts. 1899 signal tower. 500 Allegheny St.
Each of these buildings reflects a different moment in the development of the railroads. The Union Depot, or passenger station, served both the Pennsylvania (arrived in 1850) and the Huntingdon and Broad Top Mountain railroads, and is a relatively simple two-story, hipped-roof building, only two bays wide, but thirteen bays long. The Hunt Signal Tower is the second generation in switching and signaling for the railroads. It is raised well above track height to make the mechanical switches visible at longer distances and less liable to be obscured by weather conditions; previously, men changed switches at trackside and signaled between trains with lanterns. This tower was adapted to use a third signaling method in the 1930s, with the advent of pneumatic lifters and electric lamps. Today it houses the offices of the Huntingdon County Chamber of Commerce, while the depot awaits a new use.
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Location: Huntingdon, PennsylvaniaRegional Overviews:Types:Styles:no metadata availableMaterials:no metadata available
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Citation
Lu Donnelly et al., "Huntingdon County Chamber of Commerce (Union Depot and Hunt Signal Tower)", [Huntingdon, Pennsylvania], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/PA-01-HU6.
Print Source
Buildings of Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania, Lu Donnelly, H. David Brumble IV, and Franklin Toker. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2010, 358-358.
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