| Official Name: | Saltillo, Pennsylvania |
| Settlement Type: | Borough |
| Pushpin Map: | Pennsylvania#USA |
| Pushpin Label: | Saltillo |
| Pushpin Label Position: | left |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | United States |
| Subdivision Type1: | State |
| Subdivision Name1: | Pennsylvania |
| Subdivision Type2: | County |
| Subdivision Name2: | Huntingdon |
| Government Type: | Borough Council |
| Leader Title: | Mayor |
| Established Title: | Settled |
| Established Title1: | Incorporated |
| Unit Pref: | Imperial |
| Area Footnotes: | [1] |
| Area Total Km2: | 0.65 |
| Area Land Km2: | 0.65 |
| Area Water Km2: | 0.00 |
| Area Total Sq Mi: | 0.25 |
| Area Land Sq Mi: | 0.25 |
| Area Water Sq Mi: | 0.00 |
| Population As Of: | 2020 |
| Population Footnotes: | [2] |
| Population Total: | 309 |
| Population Density Km2: | 473.56 |
| Population Density Sq Mi: | 1226.19 |
| Timezone: | Eastern (EST) |
| Utc Offset: | -5 |
| Timezone Dst: | EDT |
| Utc Offset Dst: | -4 |
| Coordinates: | 40.2081°N -78.0033°W |
| Elevation Ft: | 824 |
| Postal Code Type: | ZIP code |
| Postal Code: | 17253 |
| Area Code: | 814 |
| Blank Name: | FIPS code |
| Blank Info: | 42-67632 |
| Blank1 Name: | GNIS feature ID |
| Blank1 Info: | 1215278 |
| Footnotes: | Local phone exchanges: 447, 448 |
Saltillo is a borough in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 346 at the 2010 census.[3]
Saltillo was named after the Mexican War Battle of Saltillo (23 October 1840). It was a major tanning center during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Leas and McVitty Tannery was located here, known for quality hides. The main line of the East Broad Top Railroad (EBT) was built through Saltillo in 1874. The railroad served the tannery as well as a short-lived iron mine and an equally short-lived limestone quarry, both just southeast of town.
Saltillo was an important place on the EBT, acting as a base station for the long grade up to Broad Top Mountain. The EBT had a three-track yard, a station, a water tank and a turning wye located here. Just after the turn of the 20th century a large ganister quarry was established above Saltillo on Jacks Mountain by Mount Union Refractories (later United States Refractories and North American Refractories) to supply their plant in Mount Union. In 1942 a spur was built from the EBT yard in Saltillo, which climbed the mountain to a tipple below the quarry. The branch was the steepest track on the EBT and remained in service until the line closed in 1956. The quarry continued to operate into the 1970s, served by trucks. The EBT tracks in Saltillo are still in place. The water tank was burned by vandals in the late 1980s and the station was demolished in the mid-2000s after being allowed to deteriorate to deplorable condition.
Around 1935 the skeleton of a mastodon was discovered behind the ball field in Saltillo by two young men digging a drainage ditch. They excavated several bones, teeth and both tusks. They gave them to C.R. Cornelius the landowner, who later donated them to Penn State University where they can be seen today. In the 1990s Penn State reopened the dig and found even more bones that were missed during the first excavation.
The Hudson Grist Mill at the southwest edge of town was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.
Saltillo is located in southern Huntingdon County. It sits in the valley of North Spring Branch at the western foot of Jacks Mountain, near the mountain's southern end. Pennsylvania Routes 655 and 829 run through the borough as Main Street. PA 655 leads south to Hustontown, while PA 829 leads southeast to Three Springs. The two highways together lead north 2miles to where they split in Knightsville. Huntingdon, the county seat, is north via PA 655 and U.S. Route 22.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 0.65km2, all land.[3]
As of the census[4] of 2000, there were 343 people, 135 households, and 100 families residing in the borough. The population density was 1112.6sp=usNaNsp=us. There were 152 housing units at an average density of 493.1sp=usNaNsp=us. The racial makeup of the borough was 99.13% White, 0.58% African American, and 0.29% from two or more races.
There were 135 households, out of which 34.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 67.4% were married couples living together, 4.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.2% were non-families. 22.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.54 and the average family size was 3.01.
In the borough the population was spread out, with 27.7% under the age of 18, 5.8% from 18 to 24, 33.5% from 25 to 44, 18.1% from 45 to 64, and 14.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 101.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 103.3 males.
The median income for a household in the borough was $32,917, and the median income for a family was $40,000. Males had a median income of $28,750 versus $16,250 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $14,333. About 5.4% of families and 7.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.3% of those under age 18 and 3.3% of those age 65 or over.