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Wood township, Three Springs borough, Coalmont borough, Mapleton borough, Huntingdon borough

Influenza Lingered On Broad Top

The company store at Robertsdale, 1946.
The company store at Robertsdale, 1946.National Archives and Records Administration, Records of the Solid Fuels Administration for War (RG 245), Photographs of the Medical Survey of the Bituminous Coal Industry, 245-MS-3885-A (Department of the Navy photographer, 1946) Public domain

In the autumn of 1918 influenza held on in Robertsdale, Three Springs, Coalmont and Broad Top after much of Huntingdon County had begun to recover.

On October 23 a dispatch from Mount Union, where an emergency hospital had opened in the high school building, reported that the situation at Robertsdale was not favorable. A nurse was relieved from the Mount Union force and sent to Robertsdale, and others were to follow as they could be spared.

A week later the state's report said the epidemic was apparently subsiding in Mount Union and Huntingdon. Robertsdale, though, had many new cases, and an emergency hospital had been opened in Mapleton for pneumonia cases only.

A November 4 report said the state's statewide closing ban would be lifted in Huntingdon County at noon on Friday, November 8. There were exceptions for districts where the epidemic showed little sign of improvement, and in Huntingdon County they were Robertsdale and Three Springs. Ten days later Coalmont and Broad Top reported that the epidemic was still raging in their districts, and Dr. B. Franklin Royer, the acting commissioner of health, said there was still an urgent need for doctors wherever it raged.

In December the Fulton County News noted that a man who had come home from Robertsdale and had a mild attack of the flu had recovered enough to return to his work.

Checked and confirmed. Confirmed 2026-10-31 against the sources listed: every factual sentence was tied to a word-for-word passage in its source. Where sources disagreed on a number, the number was left out.

Sources

  1. Harrisburg Telegraph, October 23, 1918, page 2
  2. Harrisburg Telegraph, October 30, 1918, page 2
  3. Harrisburg Telegraph, November 4, 1918, page 7
  4. Harrisburg Telegraph, November 14, 1918, page 8
  5. The Fulton County News (McConnellsburg), December 12, 1918, page 4
  6. National Register of Historic Places nomination: Robertsdale Historic District, reference 92000391

Checked 2026-10-31 · County histories and primary sources, read in full

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Photographs from Wood township

Loaded coal cars at Robertsdale, 1946.Loaded coal cars at Robertsdale, 1946.National Archives and Records Administration, Records of the Solid Fuels Administration for War (RG 245), Photographs of the Medical Survey of the Bituminous Coal Industry, 245-MS-3884-A (Department of the Navy photographer, 1946) · Public domain
Reality Theater, South Main Street opposite Route 913, RobertsdaleReality Theater, South Main Street opposite Route 913, RobertsdaleLibrary of Congress · pa2068
Rockhill Iron & Coal Company Office, Main Street, RobertsdaleRockhill Iron & Coal Company Office, Main Street, RobertsdaleLibrary of Congress · pa2066
Rockhill Iron & Coal Company Store, 68 North Main Street, RobertsdaleRockhill Iron & Coal Company Store, 68 North Main Street, RobertsdaleLibrary of Congress · pa2065
Superintendent's House, 9 Church Street, RobertsdaleSuperintendent's House, 9 Church Street, RobertsdaleLibrary of Congress · pa2061
St. Michael's Greek Orthodox Church, High Street, WoodvaleSt. Michael's Greek Orthodox Church, High Street, WoodvaleLibrary of Congress · pa2085

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