Logan House historical marker relocated to prime location
Historical plaque moved to more prominent site
Trending
At the behest of Mayor Matt Pacifico, the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission on Thursday relocated the historical marker that commemorates the Loyal War Governors Conference at the Logan House in downtown Altoona in 1862 from a spot where the marker was inconspicuous to a more prominent place in the downtown.
Fortuitously, the transfer from its location next to the exit ramp of the Transportation Center to curbside in front of the city Post Office occurred Sept. 24, the 164th anniversary of the conference's first day.
"The timing was cool," Pacifco said.
The impetus for the move was a discussion early this week between Pacifico and Altoona Parking Authority Manager Dave Curtis in which they agreed that the site of the blue and yellow marker about four feet inside the sidewalk made it too easy to miss, Pacifico said.
The mayor reached out to Michele Ivory, constituent outreach specialist for state Sen. Judy Ward to ask about a move to a more prominent location.
Ivory put the mayor in touch with a PHMC representative who said either a commission contractor or the city Public Works could move the sign, Pacifico said.
Pacifico asked what the commission charged and was told the service was free.
So he approved the commission to perform the work.
A workman representing the commission effected the transition, using the old sign, but a new pole -- one that isn't sunk into the ground, as in the prior location, but that is stabilized by a plate at the bottom bolted into the concrete, Pacifico said.
At the new location, the sign face is parallel to 11th Avenue, in contrast to the orientation at the old location, where the sign face was perpendicular to the avenue, Pacifico said.
"Now it's front and center and visible," the mayor said.
At the 1862 conference, 12 northern governors along with other politicians met at the Logan House Hotel at the site of the current Post Office on the request of Pennsylvania Gov. Andrew Curtin to discuss the ongoing Civil War, ultimately issuing a declaration pledging loyalty to President Abraham Lincoln and support of his recently issued Emancipation Proclamation.
"He desperately needed (that support)," according to a blog post from local historian Jared Frederick. "In the end, the governors stated that the conference and the Emancipation Proclamation gave 'new life, new vigor, and new hopes to the hearts of the people'" with a renewed sense of "'devotion to the national cause,'" Frederick wrote.
Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.