Sending Flowers to Apollo, PA

The Borough of Apollo is located in Armstrong County. It is located thirty-five miles from Pittsburgh in a former coal-mining region. It was incorporated as a borough in 1848. It has more than two thousand residents. The community was set aside following the Treaty of Fort Stanwix as "Warren's Sleeping Place," a farm named after a Native American trader. It was divided into lots, with Warren town added officially to the register of Greensburg. The log cabin home of the Drake family was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and it still stands today as one of the oldest buildings in Armstrong County. A post office was set up in the area, it officially changed the name of the area from Warren to Apollo. This was done to avoid confusion with another post office in Pennsylvania bearing the same name as this city. The present name is derived after Apollo, the Roman god of music, light, healing, enlightenment, and prophecy.

The Economy of the Community

An iron and steel company was built in the community and it dominated the local economy. The owner of the company, George Gibson McMurphy, hired Frederick Law, a famous landscape architect. He was hired to design a town for the company's workers. The Apollo Iron and Steelworkers had to live as a result of bringing up a neighboring town of Vandergrift. In Armstrong County, The borough became home to the first public library. The first mill in the community and the Pennsylvania Canal boosted the economy of the community. The addition of the iron and steel company also was a great boost. The Apollo Foundry is another great development in the community because it created employment opportunities for the residents and ended labor disputes.

The Roaring Run Recreation Area is on the  Kiski River Trail, located one mile from the southeast of the community. Another significant landmark on the Kiski River Trail is the remnants of the Western Division of the Pennsylvania Mainline Canal. The canal used the river with boats floating on the river and a system of slack water dams. The boats are used to enter a lock located at the mouth of the Roaring Run. The canal also passed through the path of the current Roaring Run Trail. Some notable people in the history of the community are Ryan Hemphill and Nellie Bly.