Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Snow Shoe

In 1859 the Bellefonte and Snow Shoe Railroad came into Snow Shoe. This led to rapid growth for the Snow Shoe area, with hotels, coal mines, and other businesses being established. Additionally, new housing was provided and vast tracts of land for lumbering were accumulated. In 1881 the railroad and property holdings were sold to the Pennsylvania Railroad and their coal interests to Berwind White Company. In 1885 the Lehigh Valley Coal Company took over Berwind White’s coal lands and became the area’s prime employer for the next 65 to 70 years.

The area was also known as a summer resort.  In 1883, John Blair Linn had this to say about it:

Snow Shoe has for many years been a popular summer resort, where mountain air and mountain scenery invite and charm hundreds of visitors yearly. The village occupies an elevation of eight hundred and fifty feet above Bellefonte and about two thousand feet above tide-water. The water is excellent, the roads superb, and hotel accommodations ample as well as agreeable.

Today Snow Shoe has a total area of .6 square miles and a population of  approximately 800 inhabitants. It is conveniently located on Interstate 80 and there are several businesses near the exit. The downtown area is on a hillside and mixes historic homes with newer styles.