Trending
Melissa Minnoia of Altoona said a customer gave this photo to her when she used to work for Citizens Bank, 312 Allegheny St., Hollidaysburg. This photo is from the early 1900s when it was the original Citizens National Bank.
Readers are encouraged to send or deliver old local photographs of general interest for use in Yesteryear. Information about people and places should be included. Photos must be 30 years old or older and should be sent to Yesteryear, Altoona Mirror, P.O. Box 2008, Altoona, PA 16603, or emailed to community@altoonamirror.com. For more information, call Brenda Carberry, community news coordinator, at 814-946-7459.
Local news on this date
Dec. 20, 1950
Altoona Police Chief Vaul Rouzer and Civil Defense director Col. Lloyd Morris listened to a test of the city's air raid whistles from the third floor of City Hall and found the sound "weak." They also said that residents might confuse the signal with fire alarms and Pennsylvania Railroad shift change signals.
Dec. 20, 1975
James E. Renny, 57, and his daughter, Pamela Joan, 14, were killed in a house fire in the Reightown section of Bellwood. Other members of the family were not home at the time of the blaze.
Dec. 20, 2000
AMED filed a lawsuit in Blair County court objecting to the transfer of services along Plank Road to the Duncansville Ambulance Company. The Blair County 911 Emergency Center, Jeff Fornwalt executive director, was in charge of dispatching ambulances.
Dec. 20, 2015
PennDOT and various construction companies held an open house at the Tyrone Borough Municipal Building to give out information on a total of 558 bridges in the state that it planned to replace in 2016-17. Five were in the Tyrone area.
Dec. 21, 1950
Arthur I. Barrett, an instructor at the Penn State Altoona Undergraduate Center, showed the Altoona Mirror his collection of rare Chinese art objects, some in jade, from his home on Coleridge Avenue, and the paper ran photos of some of the objects. Barrett lived in China for 17 years, fleeing in 1937 because of the Japan invasion.
The 28th Division of the Pennsylvania National Guard stationed in Altoona, called up due to the Korean War, was in training at Camp Atterbury, Ind. Pictures of these local soldiers appeared in a Mirror story: brothers Ellis and James Ingram, Howard Mort, George Keller and A.J. Klein.
Dec. 21, 1975
Don Paul, a disc jockey at WFBG Radio in Altoona, was the host for Disco Night for the 21 and older crowd at the Grouse's Nest Lounge in the Sheraton Motor Inn in Altoona.
Jack Harkless, executive director of the Altoona Redevelopment Authority, proposed to City Council the creation of a new agency called the Office of Community Development and Human Resources and presented a study of the matter as requested by Mayor William Stouffer.
Dec. 21, 2000
Gov. Tom Ridge signed a bill that would allow the hunting of elk in Pennsylvania for the first time in 70 years. The game commission was to issue 30 to 50 licenses. The elk were once extinct in the eastern United States due to overhunting.
The Altoona Codes Department, Ed Cardy codes chief, reminded residents that they had 24 hours to clear snow from sidewalks after the snow stopped. He said that they used a "common sense" approach and often just put a hanger on the doorknob to warn violaters. There was a $50 to $500 fine and up to 30 days in jail for non-compliance.
Dec. 21, 2015
The Federal Aviation Administration imposed new rules on drones, saying drones up to 55 pounds had to be registered. The penalties were heavy, with fines of up to $250,000 and three years in prison. Unkel Joe's Woodshed in Altoona sold nine types of drones.
Jenny Garland, 77, Altoona, owner/operator of My Fair Lady Beauty Salon in Altoona, was celebrating her 58th year in business. She was a native of Saxton and one of the first students at the Altoona Beauty School in 1957.
National, world news on this date
Dec. 20:
In 1803, the Louisiana Purchase was completed as ownership of the territory was formally transferred from France to the United States.
In 1946, the classic holiday film "It's a Wonderful Life" premiered at the Globe Theater in New York City.
In 1986, three Black men were attacked by a group of white youths in the Howard Beach neighborhood of Queens, New York, resulting in the death of one of the men, Michael Griffith.
Dec. 21:
In 1620, Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower went ashore at present-day Plymouth, Massachusetts, for the first time.
In 1988, a terrorist bomb exploded aboard New York-bound Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing all 259 people aboard the Boeing 747 and 11 on the ground. The blast occurred about 40 minutes into the flight from London and claimed the lives of citizens from 21 countries, including 190 Americans.
Local news compiled by Tim Doyle. National, world news from The Associated Press.