Kittanning High School - Kit Han Ne Yearbook (Kittanning, PA)

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scription rates very kindly submitted by the editor, and three advertisements,-one for a sale of land, another a political announcement, and the third a notice of unclaimed letters. From such humble beginnings, our present advanced state is even more remarkable. In line with other civic improvements, was the purchase of our first fire engine in 1824. Can't you picture it, new and red and shiny,-its bells clanging and making enough noise to frighten away the naughty fire spirits without any water at all? Also, a new engine house was built for it, costing our city the enormous sum of sixty dollars. Nowadays we could not buy a collapsible garage for that amount. Several years later, our growing town had the honor of being selected as the place of meeting for a great 'tlmprovement Convention in which repre- sentatives from all the surrounding counties met to discuss needed improvements, and ways and means for bringing them about. However, there was one phase of improvement which the people quite neglected in their enthusiasm for internal progress. They built up a very fine town but they forgot for the time being that, in order to display it to the world, there must be some means of approaching it. Consequently, roads and traveling facilities remained in a very poor state until long after the town had grown to considerable importance. The river offered the best means of transpor- tation for a long time. If a farmer decided to give up his rural life and move to the city, he simply built a huge raft, and floated his establishment including cattle, chickens, and horses down the river to Kittanning with no interruption of household duties on the way. The river front was lined with wharfs, and frequent steamboats and rafts came to carry on commerce with the merchants of the town. If anyone found it necessary to travel overland, he went on horseback over the old Indian trails, or struggled along the exceptionally poor roads. In the year 1825, the first step towards more convenient and more comfortable means of travel was taken. Then, my dear students from Worthington, if you had been attending Kittanning High School, you would have come to school in a stage-coach, for in that year the first stage- coach lines between Kittanning and Worthington were established. During the course of its remarkable history, Kittanning has not only been the scene of events of national importance, but it has also had experiences which only the elite in towns are privileged to share, including floods, fires, and earthquakes. The worst flood was back in the winter of '6S', when the old Allegheny let loose with all its fury. People along the river bank were forced to betake themselves to their second floors and live there as best they could until the water subsided,-leaving their living rooms and kitchens habitable once more. Boats were rowed with ease through the five and one-fourth feet of water on Arch Street, and proved a very convenient means of transportation while the flood lasted. The great earthquake took place on May 9, 1828 when the sleep of the inhabitants was rudely interrupted for two minutes by a more or less violent shaking. Upon further investigation this was found to be a stray cor- ner of an earthquake in the Pittsburgh vicinity. i Thus, the infant town got safely through its teething period, and began to walk. It has kept on walking ever since, and as the years passed and it learned to walk better, it walked faster and faster until .it reached its present dizzy rate of speed. To be sure, it still has its epidemics of influenza and scarlet fever, just to seem like old times, and the Ladies' Sewing Circle still meets and makes quilts and talks in the good old-fashioned way, but in all other respects we are right up to the minute. We have had a taste of the depression with just enough of the trim- mings to make it seem real, but the banks are still open and the treasury deficit could be greater, and so the old place must have acquired some sense, after all, in its century and a half of life. -NELLIE REESE KITTANNING Page 9

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Now listen, my children, and you shall bear Of 6l61'L ClZf7U'CS and baffles fbrougb nzmzy cz year. Once upon a time, many centuries ago, a tribe of Indians called the Lenni I.enape settled in the Allegheny valley at the place now known as Kittanning, but called in their language Kit- han-ne. These people lived a peaceful life, hunting, fishing, and scalping each other as Indians are wont to do, until the coming of the Whiteman. Then things began to happen. 'tWl1ite man, him come to git land off'm Indian. Indian, him want own land. White man and Indian fightf' Of course, this did not happen in the time it takes to tell, but, as the years passed, the soul of the Indian was aggravated to such an extent that the honorable white men at the capitol be- gan to fear for their own scalps. To teach the unruly red men that such indelicate conduct is not accepted in the best circles, they sent out Colonel Armstrong with a company of soldiers. The Colonel was very emphatic about the way good Indians should behave and when he had finished fon the evening of September 9, 1756 to be exactj there was not a house nor an un- ruly Indian left in Kittanning. All this took place at the spot on which the Alexander Hotel now stands. If you ever stay at the Alexander and your rest is disturbed by spirits from be- yond, you will know that they are probably the ghosts of some departed Kit-han-ne. Colonel Armstrong's victory made western Pennsylvania comparatively safe for settlement now, but no movement was made toward the founding of Kittanning as a civilized town until four decades later. During the intervening period, various wandering settlers made their homes here for a time, and then moved on as they felt the call. Farms were cleared haphazardly and then abandoned to some one who might come later. Forty years afterwards, in 1796, a permanent settlement was begun. In a few years, streets had been laid out and industries had sprung up. There were four streets running parallel to the river, namely, Water Street, Jefferson Street, McKean Street, and Back Street, which was later dignified as North Grant Avenue. Short streets cut these at right angles from XValnut Street to High Street. All the land outside this territory was farmland The main street was Water Street, and all the wharfs and places of business were here, including tanneries, general stores, and blacksmiths' shops. Market Street was very inconvenient because of a high ridge down the middle of it,-so high that a person sitting on the corner by the Safe Deposit Bank could not see a person coming down McKean Street. Characteristic of the town, also, were little duck ponds at intervals along the streets. CWhat would Ford City say to fbczflj Home life and social life at this early stage were very simple. The Hrst dwellings were log cabins, but these were very soon replaced by frame houses and even brick among the wealthier class. For recreation the people indulged in quiltings, singing-schools, spelling-bees, corn husk- ings, and occasional frolics in some hospitable farmer's barn. The most important social func- tion of the year was the 4th of July celebration which a committee of patriotic citizens worked out with flowery speeches, the inevitable reading of the Declaration of Independence, and fire- works. This came to assume almost the characteristics of a religious festival, and was looked forward to like Christmas. It may have been that these stalwart forefathers of ours, with so many cares and responsibilities to occupy their minds, had neither the time nor the desire to be concerned with the affairs of their neighbors, but the idea still persists with me, that every once in a long, long while they amused themselves at that pastime which is inherent in human na- ture,-gossip. This was a very necessary stage in the development of our prosperous city, but after all, it was only elementary. Our first really big step along this line of progress was the establish- ment of a newspaper. This important event took place in the year 1821 when the Eagle first wrote its name in the annals of history. This paper contained a few poems, a list of sub- Page 8 KITTANNING

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Whey only can teach who themselves have learned. 7ANON