Did you know? Mapleton was named by a railroad company, for trees.
The 1966 centennial history puts it plainly: when the Pennsylvania Railroad was being projected through the county, the company established a station here and "named it Mapleton because of the many huge maple trees standing in the area."
In 1851 the ground belonged to M. F. Campbell and John Donaldson, and the county history says it "had not at that time began to assume the character of a village." A town was laid out and building encouraged. It did not take.
As late as 1858 there were still only three houses standing: George Beatty's, Robert McCarl's, and George King's. That autumn A. W. Swope bought a lot and put up a dwelling, and that is what finally started other people buying and building.
Swope was a carpenter and cabinetmaker. From the time he arrived until 1871 he "put up about all the houses erected in the village during that time." One man, most of a town.
Campbell gave the borough the land for all of its churches and for the cemetery. He, Mr. Clayton and Mrs. John Donaldson built the Presbyterian church that is still in use, out of brick made in Campbell's own factory.
By 1866 the population had reached three hundred, on the strength of shipping bark, timber and sand out of that station. The borough charter was granted August 12, 1866.
If you live in old Mapleton, there is a fair chance a carpenter named Swope framed your house.
Sources
- Mapleton Centennial, 1866-1966, History of Mapleton, Mapleton Centennial committee, Mapleton Depot, Pennsylvania
- History of Huntingdon and Blair Counties, Pennsylvania, Borough of Mapleton, J. Simpson Africa / Louis H. Everts, Philadelphia (1883)
- History of Huntingdon and Blair Counties, Pennsylvania, biography of Abraham W. Swope, J. Simpson Africa / Louis H. Everts, Philadelphia (1883)