Irvona Borough is situated in the southern tier of Clearfield County, and is surrounded by Beccaria Township.
It was named in honor of Colonel Edwin Irvin, a Civil War Union Army officer, of Curwensville. Colonel Irvin prospered well after the war in the lumber business.
A narrow section of the township separates Irvona from its “sister borough” of Coalport.
The low-lying Clearfield Creek valley and its tributaries, such as Witmer Run, made Irvona another prime location for the rapid growth early lumber business.
The dirt trail, later developed as state Route 53, further enhanced Irvona’s locale.
In keeping with a typical chain of Clearfield County growth patterns, the development of coal mining and railway lines made Irvona an industrial town unto itself. It was incorporated as a borough in 1890.
The creek banks facilitated both the Pennsylvania and the New York Central Railroads. Irvona hosted branches of these two corporate giants of their day.
The flat and pleasant area of the town’s Elderberry Park was once the site of an area where train engines could be turned around. Sturdy, but long unused, remnants of both railway’s bridges and their abutments are still a part of Irvona’s landscape.
Immigrant and native-born families flocked to Irvona to make a living and put down roots. Homesteads and churches reflect that immigration to this day.
Vital small businesses rapidly appeared to service the needs of those families. Few of them originally owned cars, or even horses, so they mostly stayed put to within walking distance. Jobs, socialization, baseball games, shopping, etc. were all to be had in Irvona.
Both the Berwind and White and the Irvona Coal and Coke Companies were major employers, as was the Elk Tanning Company.
High-quality clay deposits brought the Hiram Swank Refractory to Irvona in 1909. The brickyard was another major employer until plummeting demand caused it to close in 1983. It was sold to a Japanese company, TYK, and reopened. Market forces forced the brickyard’s second closing in 2004.
The c. 1910 photo shows a Swank Refractory smokestack on the left. The back side of the Irvona Presbyterian Church is shown on the right.
The Pennsylvania Railroad Station is shown as is Berwind Street, sloping uphill. The hills above the town were the logged nearly bald.
The bridge over Clearfield Creek has been replaced a number of times. One structure collapsed in 1940, taking a car and a truck, which hit the bridge, into the water. Thankfully no one was hurt.
The newest bridge has been named in honor of the memory of Irvona native, Mary Ellen Tiesi, who tragically perished in the collapse of the World Trade Center towers on Sept. 11, 2001.
