HistoricSiteMarkers
Early Republic

Blair Homestead

Allegheny Township, Blair County, Pennsylvania

Marker Inscription

Opposite here on the side road is the stone house of Thomas Blair, erected 1785. It was also the home of his son, John Blair, leading citizen of the region for whom Blair County was named in 1846.

Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission

The Story

Thomas Blair built his stone house here in 1785, in the years just after the Revolution when settlers were pressing into the ridges and valleys of central Pennsylvania. The homestead passed to his son John Blair, who became a leading citizen of the area. When a new county was carved out in 1846, it was named Blair in the family's honor.

Why it matters

The homestead marks the early settlement of the Pennsylvania interior and the local families whose prominence left a permanent imprint on the map in the county names of the early republic.

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Related people

  • · Thomas Blair
  • · John Blair

Themes & tags

Westward ExpansionFrontier HistoryHome

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