This information booth was erected for the Union Veterans Legion #17 of Altoona (veterans who fought in the Civil War). The organization’s national convention was held Sept. 9-10, 1924, in Altoona. The information booth stood between the old Mechanics Library, on left, and the Central Trust Bank, on right. Today, the plaque is displayed on the corner of 13th Avenue on Altoona’s City Hall. The photo was provided by Michael Farrow of the Blair County Historical Society.

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

Feb. 7, 1951

A railroad strike by the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen ended enabling industries to return to work on vital war supplies for the Korean War. The strike had affected Altoona, shutting down rail operations for a time.

Feb. 7, 1976

The Blair County commissioners proposed converting part of the Hollidaysburg State Hospital to a child detention center because the cost of a new detention center could be as high as $600,000.

Feb. 7, 2001

The Blair County 911 Center, Jeff Fornwalt director, was to sign a 911 pact with Bedford County 911, Dan Datesman director, to transfer calls to each other, the state Emergency Management Agency announced.

Feb. 7, 2016

AMED, Deb Saussure community paramedic, began using mobile health care visits to people’s homes to help them solve various health issues. One woman, 80, had called AMED 70 times last year. Problems were solved with higher toilet seats, tables lower and closer to beds and help with food costs when people ran low on money.

Feb. 8, 1951

The Altoona Community Welfare Council, William A. Nickel president, met at the Altoona YMCA to set up a “going away” plan for Altoona young men entering the military service. Plans included local high school bands providing going away music and color guards performing.

Several dozen Pennsylvania Railroad employees of the Juniata Locomotive Shops were on a traveling General Motors classroom in a railcar called “The Blue Goose” to learn about diesel locomotives and engines with GM instructors from the electro-motive division. Cross cut sections of actual diesel engines were being used.

Feb. 8, 1976

The Altoona Chapter of the Consumer Education and Protection Association, Ernest Weiss representative, was to travel to Harrisburg with a full busload of members to monitor a PUC hearing on electric rates by Penelec.

The 79th anniversary of the founding of the Parent Teachers Association (PTA) was to be celebrated with a banquet at the Jaffa Mosque with Congressman Bud Shuster as the main speaker and William Kimmel as the master of ceremonies.

Feb. 8, 2001

St. Patrick’s School in Newry, Sister Pauline Kawtoski principal, celebrated Catholic Schools Week by raising money for missions in Haiti, Guyana and Jamaica. They also celebrated Student Appreciation Day, Grandparents Day and Teacher Appreciation Day during the week.

The Butterick clothing pattern plant, in Altoona since 1947, announced its closing after being sold to McCall Pattern Co. of Manhattan, Kan., causing about 250 union employees to lose their jobs.

Feb. 8, 2016

The Unter Uns Musical & Entertainment Society of Altoona, Joe Oberneder president, donated $1,000 to Because We Care for Altoona Police Officers to hand out teddy bears to children who had been traumatized. Unter Uns had donated $18,000 to charity that year.

U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Scott Shepro, a native of Altoona, was Army Cadet Command Noncommissioned Officer of the Year and was the soldier mentor for the nation’s top high school football players in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio.

National, world news on this date

Feb. 7:

In 1904, the Great Baltimore Fire began; one of the worst city fires in American history, it destroyed over 1,500 buildings in central Baltimore.

In 1943, the U.S. government announced that wartime rationing of shoes made of leather would soon take effect, limiting the number of pairs a person could buy each year. (Rationing was lifted in 1945 after World War II ended.)

In 1964, the Beatles were met by thousands of screaming fans at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport as they arrived to begin their first American tour.

In 1984, space shuttle Challenger astronauts Bruce McCandless II and Robert L. Stewart went on the first untethered spacewalk.

Feb. 8:

In 1587, Mary, Queen of Scots was beheaded at Fotheringhay Castle in England after she was implicated in a plot to murder her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I.

In 1910, the Boy Scouts of America organization was incorporated by William D. Boyce, who drew inspiration from the British Boy Scout movement.

In 1924, the first U.S. execution using lethal gas took place at the Nevada State Prison in Carson City as Chinese immigrant Gee Jon was put to death for a murder conviction.

In 1936, the first NFL draft was held at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Philadelphia.

In 1960, work began on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, located on Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street in Los Angeles.

Local news compiled by Tim Doyle. National, world news from The Associated Press.