Summerhill Borough

Nestled in the Laurel/Allegheny Mountains of Pennsylvania, Summerhill is a small community that grew from the Allegheny Portage Railroad and the Pennsylvania Railroad. Summerhill is home to over 300 residences, over 700 residents, several business and a community rich in involvement. Our surrounding communities offer many attractions, venues, resta... urants, schools, and churches. Summerhill, a small borough in the Allegheny Mountains in southwestern Pennsylvania, was settled in the early 1800s and grew in large part from the Allegheny Portage Railroad and the Pennsylvania Railroad. The Thomas and Barbara Croyle family was one of the earliest recorded families to settle in the town in 1794. Their family homestead, a two-story stone structure that still stands, served the family as a fortress against Indian attacks. According to some sources, Indians burned the Croyles' cabin and property, causing the family to seek refuge at Fort Bedford. By 1800, Barbara Croyle chose to rebuild their homestead with stone; she limited windows to two sides of the house to keep it stronger if attacked.[2][3] The Croyle family built a grist mill, known locally as Croyle's Mill, and a dam on the Little Conemaugh River to operate it. The establishment of the mill was significant enough for the county to notice and fund its first public works project, a dirt road from Ebensburg to Croyle's Mill. The mill operated into the 1900s.[2] In February 1810, Summerhill Township was devolved from larger Conemaugh Township, one of three original townships established in Cambria County. Originally spelled "Somerhill", the township was likely named for Joseph and David Somers, some of its early, chief landowners.[2] In the 1820s, Summerhill Township covered a large swath of land in the north-central part of the current county, including present-day Jackson, Munster, Washington, Portage and Blacklick townships. The existing borough took its name from Summerhill Township and was then known as Summer Hill. Records from 1926 indicate the borough's ...Read More