Markleton, Pennsylvania

Markleton is an unincorporated community in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, United States.[1] The community is located along the Casselman River 7.7 miles (12.4 km) east-northeast of Confluence.

Markleton, Pennsylvania
Unincorporated community
Markleton
Coordinates: 39°51′38″N 79°13′37″W
Country	United States
State	Pennsylvania
County	Somerset
Elevation	1,693 ft (516 m)
Time zone	UTC-5 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-4 (EDT)
ZIP code	15551
Area code(s)	814
GNIS feature ID	1180426[1]

History

Markle Paper Works

Markleton derived its name from the paper company of Cyrus P. Markle & Sons of West Newton in nearby Westmoreland County. C.P. Markle & Sons purchased 5,000 acres along the Casselman River in 1881 and constructed a paper mill in order to harvest the abundant trees of the mountainside and manufacture paper products.[2]

Markleton Sanatorium

Markleton Sanitarium, circa 1909

A health sanatorium was built at Markleton in the early 1890s. This initiative was lead by William J. Hitchman of Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania, Dr. Matthew B. Gault of Clifton Springs, New York, Rev. John Morrison Barnett of Washington, Pennsylvania, and their Markleton Hotel Company.[3] Dr. Gault had been appointed the first medical director of the Clifton Springs Sanitarium in 1875.[4] Rev. Barnett was a Presbyterian minister and a financial administrator at Washington & Jefferson College.[5] Some of the other figures who were important to the sanatorium's establishment were William Borland Neel, Emer Judson McElwee, Oliver Perry Shupe, James J. Neel, Dr. James A. Loar, and Johnston Borndallar Jordan, all of Mount Pleasant; Dr. J.C. McClanathan of Connellsville; and Dr. Shoemaker of Dawson.[3] Dr. M. Annie Howe-Anthony, a graduate of the Woman's Medical College of Baltimore, spent a year at the Markleton Sanatorium, where she was the only female physician; "The year at Markleton was an interesting and happy one, for there a woman physician was always honored and treated with the greatest respect."[6] Dr. Hugh S. Maxwell, a 1904 graduate of Rush Medical College in Chicago, was an assistant physician for part of 1905.[7] William Page McIntosh, a 1910 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania's medical school, served as a medical director of the Markleton Sanitarium, and Isaac Slaymaker Diller, a 1912 graduate of the same school, worked at the sanitarium as an assistant physician.[8] According to the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad's Resorts and Springs guide for Summer 1905, the sanitarium had a capacity for 150 guests and charged rates from $2.50 per day to $60.00 per month.[9]

U.S. Army General Hospital No. 17

At the conclusion of World War I, the federal government operated the former sanatorium building as U.S. Army General Hospital No. 17.[10] The hospital was designated by Army Surgeon General Merritte W. Ireland as specializing in the treatment of soldiers suffering from tuberculosis.[11] The patients and staff of the hospital published a semi-monthly newspaper entitled Star Shell.[12] Some of the U.S. Army medical personnel who were assigned at various times to the Markleton hospital included Lieutenant J.B. Stenbuck,[13] Lieutenant Urban Henry Reidt,[14] Captain H. Kennon Dunham,[15] Major Benjamin Franklin Van Meter,[16] and Major Henry Williamson Hoagland[17].

U.S. Public Health Service Hospital No. 47

After serving as U.S. Army General Hospital No. 17, the building then became U.S. Public Health Service Hospital No. 47, beginning on November 22, 1919.[18] However, this role did not last for long; Public Health Service Hospital No. 47 was closed about a year later.[19] Some believed that it was not best suited for the purpose of treating tuberculosis patients, and federal officials agreed.[20][21] Without the flow of people brought in by the sanatorium / hospital, the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad closed its ticket agency at Markleton on Jan. 9, 1924.[22]

Shoo Fly Tunnel

A view of the nearby Shoo Fly Tunnel appeared in a collection of photographs from along the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's rail lines that was published in book form in 1872 and digitized by the DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University.[23] The Shoo Fly Tunnel was daylighted in 2012 as part of the National Gateway project.

Geography

Markleton is located along the southeastern edge of Upper Turkeyfoot Township. It lies along Markleton School Road, to the east of Pennsylvania Route 281, south of the village of Kingwood and north of Fort Hill. Mount Zion Cemetery is located on top of the hill above Markleton.[24]

Markleton has a post office with ZIP code 15551.[25][26] The post office is on the western bank of the Casselman River, nestled between the river and CSX Transportation's Keystone Subdivision rail line. Across the river from the post office is a trail access area for the Great Allegheny Passage rail trail. This is the only trail access area with parking between Fort Hill to the southwest and Rockwood to the northeast.[27]

References

1. "Markleton". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey.
2. Albert, George Dallas, ed. (1882). History of the County of Westmoreland, Pennsylvania, with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men. Philadelphia: L.H. Everts & Co. pp. 704–705. Retrieved May 5, 2020.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
3. "Markleton Sanitarium". Mt. Pleasant Journal. June 7, 1892. p. 1. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
4. "Clifton Springs, NY, Timeline". Clifton Springs Historical Society & Foster Cottage Museum. Retrieved July 7, 2020.
5. "Rev. John M. Barnett". Indiana Gazette. December 25, 1907. p. 1. Retrieved July 8, 2020.
6. Lewis, W. Milton (October 1907). "The Graduates of the Woman's Medical College of Baltimore and Their Work". Maryland Medical Journal: 389–390. Retrieved July 15, 2020.
7. Houston & Blaine & Mellette, Florence Wilson & Laura Cowan & Ella Dunn (1916). Maxwell History and Genealogy. Indianapolis, IN: C.E. Pauley & Co. p. 182. Retrieved July 15, 2020.
8. Maxwell, W.J. (1917). General Alumni Catalogue of the University of Pennsylvania. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania. pp. 850, 858. Retrieved July 16, 2020.
9. Resorts and Springs. Baltimore, MD: Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. 1905. p. 41. Retrieved July 16, 2020.
10. "U.S. Army. General Hospital No. 17, Markleton, Pa: General View". U.S. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
11. "State News Items". Pennsylvania Medical Journal. Medical Society of the State of Pennsylvania: 327. February 1919. Retrieved July 7, 2020.
12. "Star Shell". U.S. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved July 7, 2020.
13. "Medical Mobilization". Journal of the American Medical Association: 836. September 7, 1918.
14. "Medical Mobilization". Journal of the American Medical Association: 292. July 27, 1918.
15. "Medical Mobilization". Journal of the American Medical Association: 580. August 17, 1918.
16. "Medical Mobilization". Journal of the American Medical Association: 577. August 17, 1918.
17. "Medical Mobilization". Journal of the American Medical Association: 473. August 10, 1918.
18. Annual Report of the Surgeon General of the Public Health Service of the United States for the Fiscal Year 1920. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office. 1920. p. 273. Retrieved July 16, 2020.
19. Annual Report of the Surgeon General of the Public Health Service of the United States for the Fiscal Year 1921. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office. 1921. p. 310. Retrieved July 16, 2020.
20. "Mt. Alto Proposed as Home for State's Tubercular Soldiers". Pittsburgh Daily Post. February 5, 1921. p. 7. Retrieved July 17, 2020.
21. "Abandon Hospital at Markleton, PA". New Castle Herald. February 28, 1921. p. 9. Retrieved July 16, 2020.
22. "Connellsville Division". Baltimore & Ohio Magazine. Baltimore, MD: Baltimore & Ohio Railroad: 72. January 1924. Retrieved July 17, 2020.
23. Photographic Views of the Baltimore and Ohio Rail Road and Its Branches, From the Lakes to the Sea. First Series. Baltimore: Cushings & Bailey. 1872.
24. "Mount Zion United Brethren Cemetery". Find a Grave. Retrieved May 3, 2020.
25. United States Postal Service. "USPS - Look Up a ZIP Code". Retrieved February 25, 2017.
26. "Postmaster Finder - Post Offices by ZIP Code". United States Postal Service. Retrieved February 25, 2017.
27. "Interactive Map". Great Allegheny Passage. Retrieved May 3, 2020.