About this site. Here is some of the history of Rural Valley and nearby areas in and around Cowanshannock Township, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania that I've gathered up along the way.

Submissions are very welcome! I am grateful to the people who have contributed content to this site. Special thanks go to Linda Repine for donating items from the estate of Mary Elizabeth Caylor, and to Chuck Colton for scanning his family's collection of old photographs and memorabilia, and also for seeking out other resources to add to the site.

How to find what you're looking for:

• Browsing: use the menu to see the major topics and their subtopics. (If you're on a mobile device, the menu will be at the bottom of this page.)
• Searching: use the search box at the top of the menu. Here are some search tips:
  • enter a surname, e.g. Casedy, or perhaps a first name and surname, e.g. Samuel Casedy. Some surnames had multiple spellings - try them all! Examples:
    • Schrecengost: also try Schreckengost and Schrecongost.
    • Rearick: also try Rearic, Rairigh, Rarie and Rearich.
  • enter a town name:
    • if the town's name is a single word, e.g. Sagamore or Yatesboro, just enter it.
    • if searching for Rural Valley, use quotes, e.g. "Rural Valley".
    • if searching for NuMine, copy (NuMine OR "Nu Mine") and paste it into the search box. Be sure to include the parentheses.

If you are researching genealogy, check out the obituary collection and the Rural Valley/Cowanshannock family tree.

What's New?

• January, 2025: Added pictures of the Berton and Edith (Rearic) Rearick family, donated by Greg Rearick and Chuck Colton (see "Pictures of People" tab). Added pictures of area post offices and postal workers, many donated by Jeff Boyer (see "Pictures of Places" tab). Added the picture of Miles Croyle (above), donated by Pat Dixon.
• October, 2024: Added a new section for home movies.
• September, 2024: Uploaded the latest version of the Rural Valley/Cowanshannock family tree, which now has 13,587 people.
• June, 2024: Added pictures of the Chobody and Kormos families, donated by Cece Chobody (see "Pictures of People" tab).

Most Wanted!

• Historical pictures are always welcome. It would be great to have more pictures of mines, miners, athletes and sports teams.
• Do you have any copies of the old Rural Valley Advance up in the attic? Maybe we can figure out a way to scan them for posterity. Update - a collection of over 300 RV Advances has been found! This is about a tenth of the number of editions published, so there are still plenty more to find.
• Family records sections from old family Bibles. If you have one of these old beauties, please aim your cell phone camera at the family records section and send them along.
• Reader request - does anyone have a family Bible connected to Mable Harriett Westwood Redifer Fox? She passed away in 1985 and lived in Kittanning RD 1. The family names associated with this Bible are probably either Westwood or Olinger. Mable's parents were Hiram Westwood (b. 1866) and Annie Olinger (b. 1868). Thanks!
• My personal request - does anyone know the whereabouts of the family Bible of John and Lydia (Jack) Totten? In the mid-1800's it was in the possession of Thomas Dubois McColgin (1827-1918) so may have been passed down to one of his children - Oscar, William, Louella, Anna, Elizabeth, Grant, Thomas and Edgar.