Roaring Spring, PA

Roaring Spring grew around the Big Spring in Morrison's Cove, where water first powered a grist mill and then a paper mill. The Blair County borough had 2,392 residents in the 2020 census, and its name comes from the spring's old reputation for roaring loudly enough to be heard a mile away. Daniel M. Bare and his partners built the region's first paper mill in 1866; after fire destroyed the first building, they rebuilt and the mill became the reason the town expanded.

The Roaring Spring Historic District, listed on the National Register in 1995, covers much of the central business district and nearby neighborhoods, including the old paper-mill town's houses, churches, bank, fire station, and passenger station. Spring Dam Park gives the water its everyday setting, with a pond and fountain where locals still meet the town's namesake. Spring Cove School District has its administration offices in the borough. Roaring Spring is a place where the map makes sense once you know the water: the spring set the industry, the industry set the streets, and the streets still carry the shape of that decision.