Morrisons Cove (also referred to as Morrison Cove or Morrison's Cove), is an
eroded anticlinal valley
A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains and typically containing a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over ...
in
Blair and
Bedford
Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population was 106,940. Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire and seat of the Borough of Bedford local government district.
Bedford was founded at a ford (crossin ...
counties of central
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
, United States, extending from
Evitts Mountain near New Enterprise, north to the
Frankstown Branch Juniata River
The Frankstown Branch Juniata River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed August 8, 2011 tributary of the Juniata River in Blair and Huntingdon counties, Pennsylvania, ...
at
Williamsburg. The width of the valley varies from between
Tussey Mountain on the east to the chain of
Dunning,
Loop and
Lock
Lock(s) or Locked may refer to:
Common meanings
*Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance
*Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal
Arts and entertainme ...
Mountains on the west. Almost entirely enclosed by these mountains, the only openings in the cove are at
Loysburg Gap in the south,
McKee Gap in the west, and at Williamsburg to the north. The floor of the valley is mostly level, with many large fertile farm fields. The southern end of the valley drains to the
Raystown Branch Juniata River via
Yellow Creek through Loysburg Gap, and the northern end drains to the Frankstown Branch, via
Clover Creek.
There are four boroughs and seven townships located in Morrisons Cove:
*
Roaring Spring
*
Martinsburg
*
Williamsburg
*
Woodbury
*
South Woodbury Township, Bedford County
*
Woodbury Township, Bedford County
*
Bloomfield Township, Bedford County
*
Taylor Township, Blair County
*
North Woodbury Township, Blair County
*
Huston Township, Blair County
*
Woodbury Township, Blair County
Altoona–Blair County Airport is located in Morrisons Cove.
Pennsylvania Route 36 is the main north/south route through the valley from Loysburg Gap to McKee Gap.
Pennsylvania Route 866 branches off PA-36 at Woodbury to Martinsburg.
History
Morrisons Cove is often mentioned as a landmark in early wills and records of importance. Wills Creek Valley and Friend's Cove are also in this section of the state and were well known to the early settlers.
Tornado
On May 22, 1949, the same storm system that caused the F1
tornado
A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with the surface of Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, although the ...
in
Altoona also spawned an F1 tornado in the Morrisons Cove area. The tornado initially touched down south of Curryville where it downed several large trees and destroyed a barn. The tornado moved northeast, striking
Henrietta and
Millerstown. Several homes were unroofed and barns were destroyed, in both areas. One of the destroyed barns was a 150-year-old stone barn. Near Henrietta, a long chicken house was thrown a considerable distance before being destroyed. A car was destroyed and a church had several windows blown out and had its chimney ripped off. A 17-year-old girl was injured in Henrietta, when the window she was standing at shattered. The tornado dissipated about east of
Martinsburg in the
Clover Creek/Fredericksburg area where it downed several
willow
Willows, also called sallows and osiers, of the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 350 species (plus numerous hybrids) of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions.
Most species are known ...
trees. The damage caused by this tornado is consistent of winds .
A map made by
Dr. Ted Fujita in 1974, of all of the tornadoes in the U.S between 1930 and 1974, shows this tornado as an F1 on the
Fujita Scale
The Fujita scale (F-Scale; ), or Fujita–Pearson scale (FPP scale), is a scale for rating tornado intensity, based primarily on the damage tornadoes inflict on human-built structures and vegetation. The official Fujita scale category is determ ...
.
References
External links
Morrison's Cove News, Updated DailyMorrisons Cove Herald's websiteMorrisons Cove's Community Website - News and Information for Morrisons Cove, PennsylvaniaThe Park at Morrisons Cove - 201 S. Walnut St., Martinsburg, PA
{{Coord, 40.249245, -78.335847, region:US-PA_type:landmark, display=title
Regions of Pennsylvania
Valleys of Pennsylvania
Landforms of Blair County, Pennsylvania
Landforms of Bedford County, Pennsylvania