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Leonard Alwine of Altoona submitted this photo of a 1925 Osgood-Bradley street car at the Hollidaysburg Terminus at the bottom of the hill in the mid-1950s. The building in the background is now a small park. Note the Blue & White bus (back left) at the train station along Route 22 and the sign to the right of the street car for 22.9 cents-per-gallon gas.
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
July 25, 1951
In what was considered a local election upset, Attorney John M. Klepser of Hollidaysburg, a former assistant Blair County District Attorney, won both the Republican and Democratic nominations for Blair County Judge. Altoona Mayor J. Chester Laughlin was unsuccessful in an attempt to gain the Republican nomination to run again.
July 25, 1976
The Altoona Mirror was printing a Pennsylvania Railroad Book called "Steam, Smoke and Cinders." It was to have three main sections: locomotives built in the Altoona shops, photos of railroad stations and a section on train wrecks like the Walter Main Circus train wreck just outside Tyrone and Red Arrow at the Horseshoe Curve. Some photos were in color.
July 25, 2001
Legislators in Harrisburg reinstalled a program called Small District Assistance for Schools that granted Bellwood-Antis $105,375 and Claysburg-Kimmel $68,825 in assistance and well as eight other schools in Cambria and Bedford counties.
July 25, 2016
A survey by the Associated General Contractors of America with 1,358 firms found that companies were struggling to fill trade jobs like carpenters, electricians and plumbers for the sixth straight yearly survey.
July 26, 1951
The Frankstown Hunt Club, A.J. McGraw chairman, announced that 150 horses had been entered in various events in the upcoming Horse show at the club over two days Aug. 11-12. Thousands of spectators were expected.
The Blair County Bar Association held its annual summer outing at the Blairmont Club with President Samuel H. Jubelirer presiding. Golf was the favorite activity. It was noted that members John M. Klepser was recently nominated for judge and member Park H. Loose for District Attorney.
July 26, 1976
The Tax Foundation found that about 30 percent of the money Blair County residents earned went for various taxes, that the first two hours and 38 minutes went for taxes and the first four months of work for the year went for various local, state and federal taxes. Only one hour, 11 minutes of earnings could be used for what was called luxury spending, the rest for bills.
The Catholic Daughters of America presented awards to Jane Dibert as state level poetry contest winner and Theresa Musto for state level songwriter contest winner.
July 26, 2001
Residents along 22nd Street down to Pleasant Valley Boulevard complained to Altoona City Council about water runoff from the rock-lined drainage ditches along the road and City Manager Joe Weakland said the city's ditch policy was unclear. Anti-skid and other debris and vegetation caused runoff.
The Blair Township Supervisors ($34,133) and the Blair County Conservation District ($38,000) were among 237 Pennsylvania groups to receive Growing Greener grants from Harrisburg for watershed restoration, protection and education. The receiving groups provided matching funds.
July 26, 2016
Typhani J. Russo of Altoona took part in the 16th anniversary celebration of Supermodels Unlimited Magazine in New York City which raised $16,000 for children with heart disease. It included fashion shows, photo shoots and visits from celebrities.
Mark Shaw of Sleepy Moon Arts was chosen featured artist for August at the Hollidaysburg Area Public Library. Shaw had developed a spray paint technique for his art.
National, world news on this date
July 25:
In 1866, Ulysses S. Grant was named General of the Army of the United States, the first officer to hold the rank.
In 1956, the Italian liner SS Andrea Doria collided with the Swedish passenger ship Stockholm off the New England coast late at night and began sinking; 51 people -- 46 from the Andrea Doria, five from the Stockholm -- were killed. (The Andrea Doria capsized and sank the following morning.)
In 1960, a Woolworth's store in Greensboro, North Carolina, that had been the scene of nearly six months of sit-in protests against its whites-only lunch counter, dropped its segregation policy.
In 1978, Louise Joy Brown, the first "test tube baby," was born in Oldham, England; she'd been conceived through the technique of in vitro fertilization.
July 26:
In 1775, the Continental Congress established an independent postal system and appointed Benjamin Franklin its Postmaster General.
In 1945, Winston Churchill resigned as Britain's prime minister after his Conservatives were soundly defeated by the Labour Party. Clement Attlee succeeded him.
In 1947, President Harry S. Truman signed the National Security Act, which reorganized America's armed forces as the National Military Establishment and created the Central Intelligence Agency.
In 1971, Apollo 15 was launched from Cape Kennedy on America's fourth successful manned mission to the moon.
In 1990, President George H.W. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act, prohibiting discrimination based on mental or physical disabilities.
Local news compiled by Tim Doyle. National, world news from The Associated Press.