50 Years Ago

Herald of Jan. 27, 1972

The new congressional reapportionment plans removed Somerset County and added Snyder and part of Cumberland County to the local district. The new district will be known as the Ninth District. The remapping of the state was necessary to reduce Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation from 27 to 25 members. The 1970 Census showed a decrease in Pennsylvania’s population that necessitated the cut.

Winds gusting up to 47 miles an hour damaged a greenhouse at Leidy’s flowers outside of Williamsburg. Friends and neighbors helped move potted plants that were in the greenhouse, cutting Leidy’s losses. A machinery storage shed at Longenecker’s Inc., also near Williamsburg, was damaged in the wind as well. The wind also blew out a window in the mobile home of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Frye of Williamsburg RD 2.

An overloaded electrical system was cited as the cause of a fire that burned the Pennsylvania House Hotel in Tyrone, killing 12 persons.