Editing Austin, Pennsylvania (section)

==History==

In September 1856, Edward Orramel Austin came to Freeman Run. He fell in love with the area and began to build a village. From then on, he lived his entire life in the valley. He served in the Civil War and returned to his valley after. His dream grew until his town, at one period, was one of the largest in Potter County. At the time of his death in 1908, the town of Austin was at its most productive with paper mills and saw mills as well. He lived to see a great dream come true. Two years later, nearly the entire town was swept away when the great dam built by the Bayless Pulp and Paper Company failed to hold back its 500,000,000+ gallons of water. The home of E.O. Austin went with it.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Austin Historical Society |url=https://austinhistoricalsociety.com/history/ |website=Austin Historical Society}}</ref>

The building is a replica of E.O. Austin’s house of the 1800’s.  It is in almost the exact spot as it was before the flood of 1911.  The inside of the home is a museum filled with memorabilia from Austin and the surrounding areas (Wharton, Keating Summit and Odin). The goal of “The New, Oldest Home in Austin” is to preserve our own town’s history – past, present, and future.

===1911 dam failure===
{{main|Austin Dam failure (Pennsylvania)}}
[[File:Austin Dam.JPG|thumb|left|Austin Dam ruins]]
The Austin Dam, also known as the Bayless Dam, was a concrete [[gravity dam]] for the Bayless Pulp and Paper Mill. Built in 1909, it was the largest dam of its type in Pennsylvania at the time. The catastrophic failure of the dam on September 30, 1911, destroyed much of the town and killed 78 people. The town was rebuilt, under the slogan "the town too tough to die". This was later changed to "the best town by a dam site".<ref>{{cite news |last=Kraft |first=Randy |date=1989-01-15 |title=Power of Nature, Folly of Man : Ruptured Dam Gains Monument Status |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-01-15-mn-817-story.html |newspaper=LA Times |location= |access-date=2021-03-04}}</ref>

===Mayoral controversy, 2021===
On November 9, 2021, Kate Crosby won the mayoral election against Jim Setzer. They received 38 and 30 votes, respectively.<ref>{{cite web |archive-url=https://archive.today/20211110140227/http://today.pottercountypa.net/2021/11/09/ |url=http://today.pottercountypa.net/2021/11/09/ |archive-date=2021-11-10 |title=Potter County Today » 2021 » November » 09 |access-date=2021-11-10 |url-status=live }}</ref> On July 7, 2021, Crosby pleaded guilty for the felony crime of aggravated assault by vehicle on December 21, 2014, which resulted in the death of one and the maiming of another man.<ref>{{cite news | date=2015-03-16 |title=Austin woman arrested in fatal crash | url=https://www.tiogapublishing.com/potter_leader_enterprise/news/austin-woman-arrested-in-fatal-crash/article_0306c540-cc0c-11e4-916a-af9552bad05b.html?mode=jqm | work=Potter Leader-Enterprise}}</ref> The ''Potter Leader-Enterprise'' wrote that Crosby's felony conviction may render her ineligible to hold office as mayor, because the Pennsylvania Constitution bars anyone convicted of an "infamous crime" from holding office in Pennsylvania. Once in office, the DA or attorney general would need to file a ''[[quo warranto]]'' to remove her.<ref>{{cite news | date=2022-01-06 |title=Can someone hold office with felony convictions? | url=https://www.tiogapublishing.com/potter_leader_enterprise/news/local/can-austin-officials-hold-office-with-felony-convictions/article_9a72ab69-0ff3-5f61-8a66-d24bd73f329e.html | work=Potter Leader-Enterprise}}</ref> On June 7, 2022, the Austin Borough Council followed Judge Stephen Minor's court decision to remove Kate Crosby as mayor of Austin.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Brooks |first=Kathy |date=16 June 2022 |title=Mayor, councilman removed from office; Valenti to serve as interim mayor |url=https://www.tiogapublishing.com/potter_leader_enterprise/news/local/mayor-councilman-removed-from-office-valenti-to-serve-as-interim-mayor/article_f21f631a-a53a-54e6-b69f-9ea91423b428.html |access-date=2022-06-26 |website=Tioga Publishing |language=en}}</ref> During a special meeting on June 30, the Austin borough council unanimously appointed James Setzer as mayor.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Brooks |first=Kathy |date=July 6, 2022 |title=Austin appoints new mayor, councilmember |work=Potter Leader-Enterprise |url=https://www.tiogapublishing.com/potter_leader_enterprise/news/local/austin-appoints-new-mayor-councilmember/article_7282ff96-fd29-11ec-9e8f-8bf0a05d6504.html}}</ref>