In 1980, Armstrong County PA deployed a fleet of experts in architecture and history to scour the region looking for historic structures, including buildings and bridges. It’s hard to find info about this Armstrong County Historical Sites Survey on the Web. But the Kittanning Public Library has a set of 3-ring binders with photocopies of 2-page reports on all the sites they reviewed. 
Nearly 30 historic buildings in Apollo PA were included in their analysis (more about that below). The report’s summing up about the town (download the PDF) notes that “Apollo Borough’s colorful historical development has produced a majority of turn-of-the Century vernacular residences, a variety of popular 19th Century architectural styles, and early 20th Century Bungalow, Cubic, and Colonial Revival styles.”
In other words, the town is jam-packed with a wide variety of cool historic houses.
The report further notes that the town’s earliest buildings had been destroyed by the 1876 fire and the St Patrick’s Day flood in 1936, with the sole survivor being Drake’s Log Cabin, built circa 1816 away from the floodplain. And “A 4 Over 4 folk-type residence on Terrace Avenue is one of the other few remaining buildings from the 1840-1859 period.” That 4 Over 4 folk-type house is the Simon Truby farmhouse at 708 Terrace Ave. (Read more about Apollo’s historic 4-Over-4 houses at Apollo’s “folk-type” architecture)
ALONG TERRACE AVENUE
Terrace Ave is recognized for having “Apollo’s most impressive, and most well-preserved buildings dating from the turn of the Century. These residences represent an age of prosperity during the community’s railroad and steel mill eras.”
The report cites 4 homes in particular on Terrace Ave:
“The Col. Jackson house, built in 1883, as a combination of Italianate and Colonial Revival Stylistic features.” Photo by Vicki Contie.
The house at 505 Terrace Ave is “the most elaborate example of the Colonial Revival style found in Apollo and built between 1900 and 1919,” according to the Historic Sites Survey.
The Amy Snyder house, “an excellent example of the Queen Anne style house built between 1880 and 1899.”
Site survey report PDF for the Amy Snyder house. Download the PDF:
And Simon Truby’s farmhouse on Terrace Ave in Apollo, PA. A 4 Over 4 vernacular-type house built during the 1840-1859 period, already mentioned as one of the few remaining buildings from this era. Photo by Cathy Hubbard.
MAPPING THE HISTORIC SITES
This map (also below) shows some of the other buildings featured in the 1980-81 Historic Sites report, including:
- Whitlinger house at 406 N Fourth Street Apollo PA. Built c 1870, this brick building is eclectic, combining architectural features from the Colonial Revival Style and the 2nd Empire Style. It’s one of the few buildings in Apollo with a Mansard style roof.
Dr. McCullough house at 323 First Street in Apollo. A 5-bay I house. Photo by Vicki Contie.
- Dr. McCullough house at 323 First Street Apollo PA. Built in 1850, this 2-story residence is one of the earliest examples of a 5-bay I House in the Apollo Borough. (Read more about Apollo’s historic I-houses in Apollo’s “folk-type” architecture)
- Apollo United Presbyterian Church, 401 First Street Apollo PA.
- Apollo Area Community Center/Municipal Bldg at 405 Pennsylvania Ave Apollo PA.
- WCTU building at 317 N. Second Street Apollo PA. Current home of the Apollo Area Historical Society.
Click on the map to open a larger interactive version. I’ll add more buildings to the map as time allows.
What is a 4 Over 4 folk-type house? And what’s an I-house? I wondered that myself! Tune in to the next blog post — Apollo’s “folk-type” architecture — to find out.
Please comment or share any additional thoughts/info you might have, whether about historic houses in Apollo & environs, or about the 1980-81 Armstrong Historic Sites survey, or whatever’s on your mind. Thanks for reading!
Visit the website’s homepage at trubyfarmhouseapollopa.wordpress.com/
The image at the very top of this blog post is from a postcard of Terrace Ave, Apollo PA circa 1910.
