Small but Mighty Blooming Valley Borough
Located in picturesque Crawford County, lies the small borough of Blooming Valley.
“Blooming Valley is progressive on some things and at the same time, old fashioned on others. The borough has all the up-to-date land use guidance, zoning, sub-division land development ordinances, stormwater management, flood plain regulations, etc.,” stated PSAB’s Outreach Training Consultant, Wendy Nickerson, a long-time resident of Blooming Valley. Both Wendy and her husband, PSAB Board of Director, Mark Nickerson, enjoy the bucolic setting of Blooming Valley.
“Along the lines of the more basic or old times, the borough requires relatively large lot sizes for new development or construction and utilizes and preserves on-lot individual water supply and sewage disposal. Blooming Valley has one of the lowest local property tax rates in the county and strives to maintain a low cost of living and its rural character. The borough can accomplish a lot considering the relatively small amount of money available,” continued Wendy.
Keystone “markers” are a now-defunct system of roadside signage developed by Pennsylvania Department of Highways shortly after the First World War, and were placed outside cities, towns, and boroughs in the state of Pennsylvania. Variations of the marker could be found at highway crossings of creeks, rivers, trails, borough lines, and other points of interest. The Keystone Marker shown here was at one of the entrances to Blooming Valley Borough years ago.
Over the last 100 years the pictured marker had been lost, then found, gone through much deterioration and then restoration, and now resides in a museum in the borough. The borough donated the recovered and restored markers to the museum a few years ago, where they will be safe and preserved.
The museum is the Roudebush House Museum, named after one of the original Blooming Valley settlers who built the house in 1834 where the museum now resides. The museum covers articles and information from life in the 1800's through the mid 1900’s and is owned and operated by a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation.
It is a notable feat that all borough government positions are always filled, seven council members, Mayor, three auditors, three Zoning Hearing Board, three planning commission, a Zoning Officer, a Constable, a Tax Collector, and voting worker positions. Whenever there is a vacancy, elected officials reach out to the community. Something Blooming Valley is also proud of is its well-maintained local street system. By spending some money on street pavement and drainage maintenance each year, and not letting deterioration progress, Blooming Valley has some of the best maintained borough streets in the area.
You can see why the borough’s 400 residents within its 2 sq. miles think their hometown is “pretty special”.
