Before the name of Conemaugh was settled upon, the region was known as the Conewago after a tribe of Shawnee Indians who used the plateau at the bend of the river for a look-out and crossing point. Since the river was navigable at times and at other times could be jumped across. It brought Indians to within easy access of Franklin Hill and over the trail to the next advantage look-out. The name Conemaugh is derived from the Indian "Canna-maugh," "Caugh-naugh," or a more outlandish form of this application being "Quin-nim-mough-koong." The meaning of the name is Otter Creek. This is the name of the Little Conemaugh River, or Otter Creek, often referred to by historians and shown on maps.
The early forest consisted of oak, maple, hickory, walnut, beech, chestnut, and pine. However, early lumbering by the white man and a steady demand for mine props for coal mines left little, if any, of the original timber. Bedded iron ore was under the plateau surface, coal was found in the valley sides, and clay was adjacent to the coal layers. Limestone was contained in the western hills of the valley and was uncovered when digging for the canal. This construction resulted in the construction of a brickoven. The area has been known by many names: Sylvania, Pershing, Conemaugh Station, and later as East Conemaugh Borough in order to distinguish it from the Old Conemaugh Borough, a part of the City of Johnstown.
A search of the land grants reveals that Robert P. Linton was warranted 301 acres and a 20-30 tract of land in 1843. It was returned in October 9, 1845 and sold a year later to Edgar Puterbaugh of Conemaugh Borough. The Puterbaugh heirs sold it in 1852 to Herman Greaves, who later apparently laid out the wooded area. On February 2, 1853, Greaves sold it to a Mr. Daniel and to Richard Sanderson who owned land on both sides of Otter Creek. The first lot in Conemaugh belonged to Harriet Ellis and was known as H Lot. This 60 X 120 foot lot sold for $75. Another piece of land was purchased by E.F. Hodges as the site for an iron furnace which became a show place because folks could stand and watch the iron being tapped into the furnaces. This furnace was located out at the end of the present First Street and was later known as "Furnace Row".
A period of great expansion began in 1834 with the completion of the Main Line of Public Works" (canals and Portage Railroad) and later in 1847 by the establishment of the Pennsylvania Railroad System and the Cambria Iron Company. Since Conemaugh was located at the western base of the Allegheny Mountains, it profited greatly. East Conemaugh Borough, "the over-the-mountain" railroad center, was incorporated on September 11, 1868, out of East Taylor Township. According to the Cambria County Court records obtained from Arthur Griffith, recorder.
Since there was a great need for a bridge to connect Conemaugh to Franklin in 1873, Leonard Kist, Thomas McCabe, and P.F. Shaffer were commissioned to build it. An order amounting to $1.02 for nails was drawn from the borough treasurer and an eight mill tax, a great sum in those days, was levied on the borough taxpayers. In 1874, Railroad Street was opened with ten-foot sidewalks and the owners of property fronting on the other streets were required to lay sidewalks or boardwalks eight feet wide. During this same year, the people who had taken up living quarters in the Old Mill because of the lack of housing were given thirty days notice to vacate. In 1874, the mill building was sold at public auction.
(This information was taken from the Conemaugh-Franklin Boroughs 125th Anniversary Book)