EVERETT HISTORY
At the beginning...Waynesburg, Bloody Run, and Everett - all names for the same town.
How the name Bloody Run came about is shrouded in history. Sometime before the official start of the town, the little stream that runs through it got the name Bloody Run. Whether it was named that after an ambush turned the run red with English blood, or some cattle were slaughtered on its banks, perhaps noone will ever know. But those are the two possibilities most often presented.
John Patton built a house - still standing - within present day Everett in 1738, possibly the oldest house in Bedford County. In 1787 a man named Michael Barndollar from Frederick, Maryland, and Philadelphia before that, purchased, from John Musser Of Lancaster, 400 acres of land where the creek named Bloody Run empties into the Raystown Branch of the Juniata River. He laid out a town on that land in 1795. Barndollar named the town Waynesburg in honor of the Revolutionary War General "Mad" Anthony Wayne. The name, however, did not stick, and people soon knew the town only as Bloody Run.
Barndollar built first on the west side of the run, but sold that part of the property in 1800 to Samuel Tate of Shippensburg, PA. Most of that would later be bought back by Barndollar's son, Jacob. On his part of the tract Barndollar erected a stone building and ran a tavern and store. Among other early settlers were Robert Culbertson and Billy Paxton, who operated hotels. Hotels and taverns were very popular on this main route between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Charles Ashcom settled here about 1806, and was Justice of the Peace as well as running a carpentry shop.
The settlement grew slowly, and in 1860 some citizens petitioned to have the town incorporated as a Borough. The first election, held in 1861 with 58 voters, made Josiah Baughman Chief Burgess and William States Assistant Burgess. Councilmen elected were J. M. Barndollar, William Masters, P. G. Morgart, Samuel D. Schooley, and David Brody. W. P. Barndollar and Jacob Barndollar served as Clerk and Treasurer of the Council.
In 1873, with the citizens wanting a more respectable name for their town, it was officially renamed Everett. This name honored Edward Everett, a former governor of Massachusetts, minister to Great Britain, and most famously a great orator. It was he who gave the main speech at the dedication of the Gettysburg cemetery when President Lincoln gave his "Gettysburg Address."In 1880 the Everett Fire Company was established by Borough oridnance. D. S. Elliot was appointed chief engineer, and D. B. Ott and John A. Gump were his assistants. Other charter members were S. A. Gump, Theodore A. Klahre, William Emme, Michael Ott, Fred Felten, E. N. Hofmier, Frank Herman, John C. Chamberlain, Thomas M. DuBois, Peter Barndollar, B. M. Barndollar, John H. Giles, and Phil M. Bussard.
The first school teacher was John Paden, in 1814. The first actual school building was built in 1837 and was used for about 20 years. Another school was built in 1866 on North Spring Street. A high school, the first high school, was built behind this school in 1885. In 1900, the 1866 building was replaced by a new one, and these buildings, with additions, served as the schools until a new high school was built in 1955. Both old buildings were used as elementary schools until a new one was built in 1979. The first two high school graduates were Mary Pettigrew and S. Howard Gump in 1889. The two were married in 1892.
In the early 1900's, Everett residents A.W. Karns and his son, W. C. built an automobile. It was made by hand, part by part, as there were no factories for them. They petitioned the Federal Government for a loan to set up a plant for their manufacture, and at about the same time a man from Detroit, Michigan named Henry Ford did the same. Ford won the approval for the loan.
The 1936 flood on St. Patrick's Day was the biggest natural disaster to hit Everett. The whole county sustained damage, but Everett was hit the hardest with an estimated $500,000 in damage. The old wooden bridge on the west end of town was destroyed by the rising water, and the remnants of that bridge washed up against a newer iron bridge toward the east part of town, where it formed a dam. Water then rose quickly and dramatically in downtown Everett, about one story high throughout the downtown area. The only reported death in the county was 90 year old Rev. A. Johnson, who died of a heart attack in his downtown Everett home.
Everett (in 1900)- The second town in population and first in manufacturing and business advantages, is situated on the Raystown branch of the Juniata River, eight miles east of the county seat. The Huntingdon and Broad Top Railroad passes through the borough and affords the only railroad accommodations at present. The industries here are more
extensive than anywhere else in the county. The larger being the iron furnace, glass works, steam tannery, foundry, planing mills, machine shops, steam flouring mill and two newspaper establishments, three barber shops, three butcher shops and one photo gallery. There are also three large hotels, eight churches, one bank, two school buildings, two lawyers, three dentists and four physicians. There are about four hundred and fifty residences.
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