Gallitzin, PA

Gallitzin sits on the Allegheny Front at one of the mountain gaps that made east–west travel possible across Pennsylvania. The borough began as Watts Town and became Gallitzin on December 2, 1873, named for Prince Demetrius Augustine Gallitzin. The Pennsylvania Railroad chose this pass for its main line, then cut through the mountain with the Portage, Allegheny, and Gallitzin tunnels. The tracks crossed the Continental Divide, turning a difficult climb into a permanent transportation corridor.

Gallitzin’s tunnel story is still visible at the Gallitzin Tunnels Park & Museum, which holds railroad artifacts, photographs, a restored 1942 Pennsylvania caboose, and a theater. Norfolk Southern freight trains and Amtrak still use the active tunnels, so the old engineering feat remains part of the present soundscape. The borough’s library, police station, municipal office, churches, and local streets sit above the rail corridor, while Tunnelhill and Gallitzin Township share the mountain setting. Gallitzin is a Cambria County borough built around a pass, a pair of historic rail lines, and the long climb over the Alleghenies.