Lilly, PA

Lilly is a borough in Cambria County's Little Conemaugh River valley, near the river's headwaters and two miles south of U.S. Route 22 via Pennsylvania Route 53. Its story is tied to the mountain transportation corridor around Cresson and Portage. A settlement grew here during construction of the Allegheny Portage Railroad in the 1830s; the place was first called Foot of Four, then Hemlock, before taking the name Lilly. Historical markers and road traces around the borough connect the old Portage railroads, the later Pennsylvania Railroad, and Frankstown Road.

That history gives Lilly a heavier local memory than its 2020 population of 879 suggests. Cambria County's coal, iron, and railroad expansion brought industry and immigrant communities into the surrounding uplands, followed by a long retreat from heavy industry after the 1970s. Lilly also carries the memory of the April 5, 1924, confrontation in which local residents and members of the Ku Klux Klan exchanged gunfire; three local people were killed, and charges followed on both sides. Today the borough is part of the Penn Cambria School District and the Johnstown-Altoona metropolitan area. Route 53 remains the practical link north to Cresson and the larger mainline corridor, while the Little Conemaugh valley and the old Portage route keep the town rooted in Cambria's rail-and-industry landscape.