Apollo, Pennsylvania

History

The area was sectioned in 1769, following the Treaty of Fort Stanwix, as a farm known as "Warren's Sleeping Place", named after a Native American trader from the area named Edward Warren. It was soon surveyed and divided into lots, with the town of Warren officially being added to the Greensburg register on November 9, 1816. The log cabin home of the Drake family still stands in the area, and is one of the oldest buildings in Armstrong County.

With the introduction of the post office, the area was officially renamed from Warren to Apollo in 1848 to avoid confusion with the post office of another town in Pennsylvania of the same name.

By the late 19th century the Apollo Iron & Steel Company dominated the local economy. In 1895, the company's president, George Gibson McMurtry, hired famous landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted to design a town for Apollo Iron & Steel's workers. The result was the neighboring town of Vandergrift. In 1911, Apollo became home to the first public library in Armstrong County.

The Roaring Run Recreation Area is located one mile upriver (southeast) of Apollo and can be accessed via the Apollo Kiski River Trail. Stone remnants of the Western Division of the Pennsylvania Mainline Canal, that passed through Apollo and operated between 1825-1850, can be found along the Roaring Run Trail. The canal made use of the Kiskiminetas River using a system of slackwater dams, and the boats floated on the river, entering a lock located at the mouth of Roaring Run. From there the canal ran along the path of the current Roaring Run Trail, through the entire length of the borough, entering the Kiskiminetas River again across the river from where the current borough of East Vandergrift is situated.

The Drake Log Cabin was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

Geography

Apollo is located on the Kiskiminetas River at 40°35′3″N 79°33′52″W (40.584103, -79.564363).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 0.35 square miles (0.9 km²), of which 0.31 square miles (0.8 km²) is land and 0.039 square miles (0.1 km²), or 12.43%, is water.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 1,765 people, 762 households, and 467 families residing in the borough. The population density was 5,577.1 people per square mile (2,129.6/km²). There were 856 housing units at an average density of 2,704.8 per square mile (1,032.8/km²). The racial makeup of the borough was 95.52% White, 3.29% African American, 0.11% Native American, 0.11% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, and 0.91% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.79% of the population.

There were 762 households, out of which 28.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.3% were married couples living together, 15.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.6% were non-families. 34.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.29 and the average family size was 2.92.

In the borough the population was spread out, with 24.1% under the age of 18, 8.2% from 18 to 24, 30.0% from 25 to 44, 21.0% from 45 to 64, and 16.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 87.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.8 males.

The median income for a household in the borough was $22,989, and the median income for a family was $29,952. Males had a median income of $26,750 versus $19,432 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $13,415. About 10.6% of families and 14.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.7% of those under age 18 and 12.4% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

There are many small locally owned companies in Apollo.

Education

Apollo-Ridge School District, K-12

Notable people

Trivia