The 1967 centennial edition documented more than buildings and industries. It recorded the borough officials, volunteer organizations, public facilities and community responses that kept Mount Union functioning through growth, fire and flood.
The borough’s charter was filed June 6, 1867. George McLaughlin became the first burgess, and the first council began the practical work of streets, taxes and borough administration. The centennial edition reproduced the charter and assembled early burgess and mayor lists.
Features on Mayor Melvin Diven, council, borough equipment, sewage treatment and public planning captured the local government at the centennial. They are a time-specific account of 1967 rather than a description of current borough operations.
The edition contrasted before-and-after photographs of the Municipal Park and showed the recreation area in summer and as an ice-skating destination in winter. The park story belongs to the borough’s larger transition from industry-centered land use to year-round public recreation.
A feature on the Mount Union Housing Authority described efforts to provide improved housing and identified Chestnut Terrace as an early local housing project. The edition also placed the project beside photographs of community recreation, emphasizing a broader program of neighborhood improvement.
The centennial edition called the St. Patrick’s Day flood the borough’s worst disaster. It reported the loss of lights, telephones, railroad service and primary roads as Juniata River water entered the community. The Long Lumber Company was inundated, the country-club property was devastated and the Harbison-Walker dinky bridge across the river was swept away. Schools, churches and other buildings became part of the relief effort.
This history now has its own documented feature connecting the newspaper retrospective with government river records, surviving photographs, industrial consequences, relief work and later flood protection. Explore the Flood of 1936 →
Civic-minded residents met in the old grade-school building to organize a dependable system of fire protection for the fast-growing industrial borough.
The company progressed from hose carts and chemical equipment to motorized apparatus. A 1919 Reo appears in the centennial edition’s photograph of the 1920 company.
Firefighters took on extensive rescue and community-service responsibilities during the St. Patrick’s Day flood.
The Crum Building fire drew assistance from surrounding communities and was remembered as the largest fire in Mount Union history to that date.
The company expanded ambulance, rescue, disaster and diving capabilities while continuing to modernize its apparatus. In 1967 it was raising funds for a new fire hall.
The company purchased the former Huntingdon County Airport property for $300,000, beginning its second life as a site for fire-company benefits and community events. Explore the airport and airfield history →
The edition also recorded the VFW, American Legion, Masons, Elks, women’s clubs, political clubs, fire-company auxiliaries, business organizations and a civic-improvement committee. These listings are preserved as a snapshot of organized community life in 1967; they do not imply that every group remains active today.
The Daily News, viewer pp. 30 and 73
Donaldson’s housing chapter adds project dates and building details to the centennial account of community redevelopment.
A newspaper excerpt reproduced in the book dates the creation of the Huntingdon County Housing Authority to March 1951 and the opening of Chestnut Terrace to 1953. The development provided 100 homes on 12.58 acres along Route 522, annexed to the borough before construction.
Bryan D. Donaldson, Brick Town USA, vol. 1 (2006), printed p. 253 (PDF p. 261). About this source.
Donaldson traces the land to the borough’s 1959 purchase of 17.50 acres from General Refractories for $16,070. Part of the property became senior housing: 13 two-family buildings and a community recreation building. The page labels the project 1963–1964 and also uses the spelling “Greene Street Village.”
Bryan D. Donaldson, Brick Town USA, vol. 1 (2006), printed p. 258 (PDF p. 266). About this source.
The book dates completion of the seven-floor apartment building at Division and Milford streets to 1976. Donaldson remembers the earlier “Ewing’s Lot” as a place for baseball games and fire-company carnivals, connecting the building site to an older neighborhood gathering place.
Bryan D. Donaldson, Brick Town USA, vol. 1 (2006), printed p. 264 (PDF p. 272). About this source.
An unsigned club history preserved by Donaldson traces its beginnings to 1930. Members met every other Tuesday, combined sewing with social visits, helped families through illness and bereavement, and sent packages to servicemen during World War II and Vietnam.
When Ganister Hill’s houses were removed and families moved away, the club continued. Its account lists fourteen members and officers for 1969, preserving evidence that neighborhood ties outlasted the neighborhood itself.
Bryan D. Donaldson, Brick Town USA, vol. 1 (2006), printed pp. 154–156 (PDF pp. 164–166). About this source.
Explore the neighborhood stories still to collect.
The Mount Union Community Library identifies 1913 as its founding year. It marks a separate milestone on December 13, 2011, when it became entirely volunteer-run. Keeping those dates distinct recognizes both the library’s long history and the later commitment of volunteers to sustaining it.
The institution belongs alongside the borough’s fire company, clubs and service organizations in the story of residents maintaining shared community resources.
Source: Mount Union Community Library, About Us.
Borough workers removed Mount Union’s bicentennial time capsule from the IOOF Cemetery on September 14, 2026. Buried on December 30, 1976, it preserves contributions from families, schools, businesses and civic organizations. More than 100 people attended the October 3 celebration at the Sharrar House. Read the follow-up, see photographs and learn about the next capsule.
Source: The Daily News, September 15, 2026, p. 1; October 6, 2026, pp. 1, 3.
A county planning update reported completion of three pieces of playground equipment at Mount Union’s baseball-field park. Separately, officials identified a future phase of Diven Park work that would include pickleball and basketball courts and finishing the parking lot. Those future improvements were not reported as complete.
Source: The Daily News, September 18, 2026, pp. 1, 3.
September notices sought bids for soffit, fascia and gutter replacement at Chestnut Terrace, along with roof work at the Housing Authority’s administration office. The notices document planned maintenance rather than completed construction. The bid-submission office is at 100 Federal Drive, Mount Union.
Source: The Daily News, September 11, 2026, A10; September 15, p. 9.
The Shirley Township General Authority received a reported $73,326 grant toward replacing two sewage lift-station pumps. The award supports future infrastructure work; the report did not say the pumps had already been installed.
Source: The Daily News, September 17, 2026, p. 1.
At its October 7 meeting, Mount Union Borough Council approved Miranda Muentes as borough manager by a 7–1 vote, according to the October 8 report. Council president Jenny Madden gave an annual salary of $57,500 and said background checks and onboarding remained underway. A starting date had not been announced.
Council also discussed the condition of the municipal and police buildings. Repair, consolidation and replacement options remained under discussion; the report did not announce an approved construction project.
Source: The Daily News, October 8, 2026, pp. 1, 3, “Mount Union council hires boro. manager”.
A separate October 10 report says council approved $10,140.40 in repairs for the police department’s 2015 Ford, including a rebuilt transmission. Approval of the repairs does not establish that the work has been completed.
Source: The Daily News, October 10, 2026, p. 3, “Mount Union council approves vehicle repairs”.