Editing Altoona, Pennsylvania (section)

===Founding and growth===
[[File:Thaddeus M. Fowler - Penn'a R.R. Car Shop's, Altoona, Pennsylvania, 1895.jpg|thumb|''Altoona in 1895: a [[Pennsylvania Railroad]] town'', a lithograph by [[Thaddeus Mortimer Fowler]]]]
Prior to European settlement, the Altoona area was inhabited by the [[Iroquois Confederacy]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.altoonapa.gov/history-of-altoona | title=- History }}</ref> Altoona was founded by the [[Pennsylvania Railroad]] (PRR) in 1849 as the site for a shop and maintenance complex. Altoona was incorporated as a [[Borough (Pennsylvania)|borough]] on February 6, 1854, and as a city under legislation approved on April 3, 1867, and February 8, 1868.<ref>{{cite web|publisher=I Love Altoona|title=History of Altoona|url=http://ilovealtoona.com/Altoona/history/|access-date=2013-09-08|archive-date=February 1, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150201215639/http://ilovealtoona.com/altoona/history/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In late September 1862, Altoona was home to the [[War Governors' Conference]] which brought together 13 governors of Union states. This body gave early approval to the [[Emancipation Proclamation]]. The town grew rapidly in the late 19th century, its population approximately 2,000 in 1854, 10,000 in 1870, and 20,000 in 1880. The demand for [[locomotive]]s during the [[American Civil War|Civil War]] stimulated much of this growth, and by the later years of the war, Altoona was known as a valuable city for the North. Altoona was also the site of the first Interstate Commission meeting to create and design the [[Gettysburg National Cemetery]] following the devastating [[Battle of Gettysburg]]. The centrality and convenience of the town's rail transportation brought these two important gatherings to the city during the war.{{Citation needed|date=October 2013}}