Altoona is a city in Blair County , Pennsylvania , United States . It is the principal city of the Altoona Metropolitan Statistical Area . The population was 46,320 at the 2010 census estimate , making it the tenth most populous city in Pennsylvania. The Altoona MSA includes all of Blair County and had an estimated population of 127,089 in 2010 , around 105,000 of which live within a 5-mile radius of the Altoona city center, according to U.S. Census zip code population data. Having grown around the railroad industry, the city is currently working to recover from industrial decline and urban decentralization experienced in recent decades. The city is home to the Altoona Curve baseball team of the Double A Eastern League , which is the Double A affiliate of the Major League Baseball team Pittsburgh Pirates . It also houses the 75+ year-old Altoona Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Teresa Cheung. Prominent landmarks include the Horseshoe Curve , the Railroaders Memorial Museum , the Juniata Shops of the Altoona Works , the Mishler Theatre , the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament , and the Jaffa Shrine Center . Altoona is also the home of the Sheetz headquarters. Sheetz is one of the largest convenience store and gas station chains in the country, with stores in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, and North Carolina. Because of this, approximately 20 Sheetz stores are located in and around Altoona. Sheetz is one of the featured companies in the Morgan Spurlock documentary Pom Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold . To promote itself, as well as the film, the City of Altoona agreed to change its name temporarily to the title of the film and be known as Pom Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, PA for 60 days for a fee of $25,000. The city held a ceremony on April 27 to salute the documentary, followed by a screening.
History A major railroad town, Altoona was founded by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1849 as the site for a shop complex. Altoona was incorporated as a borough on February 6, 1854, and as a city under legislation approved on April 3, 1867, and February 8, 1868. 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 word Altoona is a derivative of the Latin word altus , meaning "high". This explanation for the naming of Altoona is contradicted by Pennsylvania Place Names. Although Altoona, in Blair Country, is popularly known as "the Mountain City," its name has no direct or indirect etymological relation to the Latin adjective altus, signifying "elevated, lofty." Two very different explanations of the origin of this name are current. The one which seems to be most natural and reasonable runs as follows: "The locomotive engineer who ran the first train into Altoona in 1851 was Robert Steele, who died several years ago, aged nearly ninety years. He was then the oldest continuous resident of the city. He was much respected, and had long been one of the private pensioners of Andrew Carnegie.
