Roaring Spring, Pennsylvania

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Roaring Spring in Morrison Cove, is a borough Blair County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,418 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Altoona, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Contents 1 History 2 Athletics 3 Geography 4 Education 5 Demographics 6 External links

[edit] History

Roaring Spring originated as a settlement called Spang Mills, after a grist mill operated by the Spang family. In 1863 the land was sold to Daniel Bare; in 1865 he and others decided to build a paper mill there, which began to operate in 1866 (and is operated there today by Appleton). A foundry and a railroad connection followed, and in 1886 the factory of the Blank Book Company. The borough was incorporated in 1887.

[edit] Athletics

While Roaring Spring has yet to have grown any well known sports figures, the athletics in Morrison's Cove have created standout players, memorable games and teams. One year in particular captured the interest of the local population. In 1987, the Roaring Spring Little League All-Stars team tallied a record of 23 wins and 0 losses, the first and only local team to finish the season undefeated when competing outside the Cove. Coached by Rick Haupt, Butch Walters, Sam Ebersole, Ken Nofsker, and *Dave Hoenstine, the 1987 team won tournaments in Martinsburg, Osterburg, Claysburg, Hollidaysburg, and finished the season winning on their home field in Roaring Spring during the 100 year anniversary celebration of the town. Many players on that team continued their career in college athletics in and around Pennsylvania. It should also be noted that the players on the '87 little league roster did not lose another school athletics baseball game until their sophomore year in high school, going undefeated for three consecutive years at Spring Cove Jr. High School under the coaching of Denny Cowher, Fred Guyer, and Randy Bussard.

• (current head baseball coach at Central High School and former Cincinnati Reds player)

[edit] Geography

Roaring Spring is located at 40°20′4″N, 78°23′55″W (40.334494, -78.398512)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 2.1 km² (0.8 mi²), all land.

[edit] Education

Roaring Spring is home to the Spring Cove School District Admin. Offices. The school district consists of 3 Elementary Schools (Roaring Spring Elementary, Martinsburg Elementary, and East Freedom Elementary), the Spring Cove Middle School (Roaring Spring), and Central High School (Martinsburg). The district, which serves Taylor, Freedom, Huston, and N. Woodbury Townships as well as the towns or Roaring Spring and Martinsburg, has 1,911 total students with; 636 students at Central High School, 491 students at Spring Cove Middle School, 328 students at Martinsburg Elementary, 264 students at Roaring Spring Elementary, and 192 at East Freedom Elementary.

Roaring Spring Elementary, which was originally the Roaring Spring High School until the Roaring Spring Martinsburg merge in the 60s was built in the late 1920s (er, no, it was built in 1937, which is obvious since the year is listed above the main entrance) and is currently in poor condition. A new elementary school is a necessity, but the current School Board cannot come to an agreement about building it. (Actually, a recent board approved a building project and was well on the way to beginning construction until a small group of senior citizens took it upon themselves to attempt to halt construction. This group, headed by W. Gene Henry, who probably owns more real estate in the district except for the Metzler farm family, feels that the proper education of the district's elementary students should be jeopardized because "we can't afford" a new elementary school. They must think that in 5, 10 or 15 years when the RS elementary school is finally condemned that it will be less expensive to build a new school. Maybe they all expect to be dead by that time. We can only hope so.)

Nobody wants to spend the money to build the school, but the current building is old and amazingly it has not yet been condemned. (In fact, the building was closed for two months in 2003 when emergency repairs were made to the main support pillars to rectify corrosion/decay caused over the last 50 years by the indoor swimming pool.) The plan is to build an elementary school in Roaring Spring, and close the old Roaring Spring and East Freedom schools and combine them into one school.

The Spring Cove school district has exhibited blatant disregard for any type of fiscal spending which may improve and enrich the academic lives of its students. For the past 30 years the administration's sole focus has been aimed strictly toward athletics in the hopes that at least 1 of its thousands of students will perhaps become a professional sports star someday and give fame and notoriety to the Cove. In the course of these aspirations, the administration has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars toward athletics over the years, which has resulted in the overwhelming taxation of Morrison's Cove residents. However, I received none of this money personally due to the fact that I was't good enough to play on any of the district's sport teams, which is basically why I'm so bitter about the sports teams The school district had some of the lowest standardized testing scores in all of the state of Pennsylvania during the 2005-2006 school year. A star has yet to be born. With no star being produced to date, the school district voted to disband the Jr. High Baseball team in order to hire a firm to review past paperwork...How sorry is that ?

The district obviously has produced (and harbors) many people who prefer to make up their own version of reality and misrepresent the facts on important community issues. This community can best be described as a modern day Peyton Place. Most of the current citizens of Roaring Spring complain far more than they are willing to act, as is exhibited here. The residents would simply need to elect the canidates who will work for them, but most residents more than likely STILL don't vote because 'what does one vote count for'? When the school district Superintendant is NOT from the cove, such spats and concerns will continue to exist until people stand up and be counted. Which was typical when I grew up in the Cove, and as I read, things haven't changed much. The local slum lord, Gene Henry, should sit down and allow the Cove to catch up with the rest of society. He should take his swindling ways and move south to Florida or just leave and go anywhere... !

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 2,418 people, 1,019 households, and 706 families residing in the borough. The population density was 1,167.0/km² (3,020.5/mi²). There were 1,087 housing units at an average density of 524.6/km² (1,357.8/mi²). The racial makeup of the borough was 98.92% White, 0.17% African American, 0.04% Native American, 0.37% Asian, 0.21% Pacific Islander, 0.04% from other races, and 0.25% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.04% of the population.

There were 1,019 households out of which 30.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.1% were married couples living together, 11.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.7% were non-families. 27.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.37 and the average family size was 2.88.

In the borough the population was spread out with 22.5% under the age of 18, 9.3% from 18 to 24, 28.0% from 25 to 44, 23.3% from 45 to 64, and 16.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 91.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.9 males.

The median income for a household in the borough was $35,329, and the median income for a family was $42,370. Males had a median income of $31,643 versus $24,352 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $17,972. About 8.0% of families and 10.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.0% of those under age 18 and 9.5% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] External links

• Roaring Spring official website
• Maps and aerial photos Coordinates: 40.334494° -78.398512°
  • Street map from Google Maps, or Yahoo! Maps, or Windows Live Local
  • Satellite image from Google Maps, Windows Live Local, WikiMapia
  • Topographic map from TopoZone
  • Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA