McConnellstown, PA

McConnellstown is a Huntingdon County census-designated place in Walker Township, tucked into Woodcock Valley between the ridges of central Pennsylvania. The 2020 census counted 1,208 residents. The long name has a local shortcut - Mactown - and Pennsylvania Route 26 runs the length of the community, linking it with Huntingdon to the northeast and Marklesburg to the southwest. Crooked Creek borders the village and feeds the Juniata River. The nickname is useful because the formal name takes a while to say, but the valley setting does the rest locally.

The place still has the shape of a valley village: a road through the middle, farms and hills around it, and water moving toward the Juniata. Woodcock Valley Elementary School closed as a school and now houses McConnellstown Church of the Nazarene, an everyday example of how old buildings pick up new jobs. McConnellstown is close enough to Huntingdon for county-seat errands while keeping its own name, nickname, and valley setting.