Ever since I was 12, I had a fascination with Blair County’s history which encouraged me to learn more about our area’s past. Now as an incoming college freshman, I work to complete my third publication about Blair County’s history.

In November of 2020, I started the Altoona Pennsylvania History Page as a resource to both share and discover local history. I was amazed at how quickly others followed the page, liked, commented, and shared my posts, as well as shared memories and history of their own. I knew I had established a great resource for myself and others.

In the winter of 2021, I became curious of the forgotten community of Glen White, PA. Glen White was located two miles from the Horseshoe Curve in Altoona, Pennsylvania, just mere miles from my home. After taking a wintertime trip through that area with my grandfather and seeing the town’s ruins, I was determined to learn more.

When summertime came, I interviewed former Glen White resident Leno DeGol, who was 93-year-old at the time, for a two-part story for my Altoona Pennsylvania History page. After large amounts of feedback and memories shared, I realized that Glen White’s full story was important and needed to be documented farther.

After months of research, in May of 2023, I published a 75-page book entitled “Glen White, PA: The Town that was Forgotten in the Allegheny Mountains” at 15 years old. Research efforts were made possible by Ray Stiver, Leno DeGol, The Blair County Genealogical Society, The Blair County Historical Society, Glen White residents, newspaper archives, and other individuals who donated information and photographs.