Altoona, city in Blair County, central Pennsylvania, at the eastern escarpment of the Allegheny Mountains. Manufactures include railroad equipment, electronic components, clothing, electrical appliances, and processed food. Large railroad repair shops are in Altoona. A campus (1929) of Pennsylvania State University is in Altoona. The community was founded in 1849 by the Pennsylvania Railroad (later merged into the Penn Central) as a base for constructing a rail line across the Alleghenies. A spectacular railroad horseshoe curve nearby is a tourist attraction. The origin of the city's name is unclear; it might be derived from the Native American word allatoona (“high valuable lands”), from the Latin altus (“high”), or from the German community of Altona (now a district of Hamburg, Germany). Altoona was incorporated in 1868. Population 57,078 (1980); 51,881 (1990); 49,523 (2000).
