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Huntingdon borough

Radiators From The Old Car Works

Did you know? After Huntingdon stopped building railroad cars, the old car works went on to make radiators.

W. A. Orbison and C. W. Welch started the Huntingdon Car Works in 1872 to build freight cars, and Blain Brothers bought and enlarged it in 1880. By 1901 the buildings were vacant. A series of industries moved in. The Keystone Boiler Works lasted less than five years and the Atlantic Radiator Company less than ten. They were followed by Pierce, Butler and Pierce Manufacturing Company, another radiator maker, which continued until the 1940s. A county souvenir book printed in 1937 says the plant was then making high grade hot water radiators.

Pam Kane tells us her house is still heated with radiators built at the Huntingdon Radiator Works.

Checked and confirmed. CONFIRMED 2026-10-03 against the sources listed: every factual sentence was tied to a verbatim passage and a script confirmed each passage is in its source. Where sources disagreed on a number, the number was left out. Information shared with us by readers is given as theirs, not as fact: Myer Souders | Pam Kane.

Sources

  1. Nancy S. Shedd, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania: An Inventory of Historic Engineering and Industrial Sites (HABS/HAER, 1991)
  2. Souvenir Historical Book, Huntingdon County Sesqui-Centennial (1937)

Checked 2026-10-03 · County histories and primary sources, read in full

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Photographs from Huntingdon borough

Hunt Tower, Fifth & Allegheny Streets, HuntingdonHunt Tower, Fifth & Allegheny Streets, HuntingdonLibrary of Congress · pa2736
Stone Creek Bridge II, South of Penn Street between First & Second Streets, HuntingdonStone Creek Bridge II, South of Penn Street between First & Second Streets, HuntingdonLibrary of Congress · pa2738
Huntingdon Station, Fourth & Allegheny Streets, HuntingdonHuntingdon Station, Fourth & Allegheny Streets, HuntingdonLibrary of Congress · pa2735
1947 Tucker '48 Prototype, Huntingdon1947 Tucker '48 Prototype, HuntingdonLibrary of Congress · pa4156
The Huntingdon County courthouse in 1905, the building the grand jury's report of 1882 led to.The Huntingdon County courthouse in 1905, the building the grand jury's report of 1882 led to.Unknown authorUnknown author · stg09
Airplane view of Huntingdon looking west, a linen-texture postcard published by W. A. Grimison and Son of Huntingdon, between about 1930 and about 1945Airplane view of Huntingdon looking west, a linen-texture postcard published by W. A. Grimison and Son of Huntingdon, between about 1930 and about 1945Boston Public Library, Tichnor Brothers collection no. 80546. Published by W. A. Grimison and Son, Huntingdon, Pennsylvania. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons · Tichnor Brothers collection 80546

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