Trafford historian seeks federal approval for naming Brush Creek tributary

A Trafford historian is seeking federal approval to name a North Huntingdon stream after the German immigrant family that settled along its banks in the 1870s.

Andrew Capets, president of the Trafford Historical Society, is awaiting a decision from the U.S. Board on Geographic Names to formally designate the Brush Creek tributary as Blends Run. The name honors John Blend, who built a homestead in 1875 at the base of Mahaffey Hill Road.

Capets said the three-quarter-mile-long stream, though currently unnamed on official maps, is already known locally as Blends Run. It flows from North Versailles in Allegheny County and empties into Brush Creek near the village of Cavittsville.

“The Blend family contributed significantly to the early history of North Huntingdon and Trafford,” Capets wrote in his application, noting that Blend served as a watchman for the Pennsylvania Railroad.

Capets submitted historical research, photographs and maps to bolster his case.

“I can’t think of any reason for them to turn it down. It meets all their criteria,” said Capets, a Trafford native who lives in North Huntingdon.

Jay Losiewicz, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, said the state committee is reviewing the proposal. While budget impasses at the state and federal levels caused administrative delays, the committee expects to submit its recommendation to the federal board soon.

It is relatively uncommon for the committee to receive requests to name unnamed features, typically processing about 10 such applications per year, Losiewicz said.

The proposal is on the January docket for federal review, according to U.S. Geological Survey spokesman Bryan Purtell.

The North Huntingdon commissioners in September gave their support to the naming effort.

“I doubt North Versailles or North Huntingdon would have had any reason to object,” Capets said.

North Versailles Township manager Joseph Varhola said the municipality had not received any information about supporting the naming of the stream.

Capets has a family interest in the area. His late grandmother, Velma Jean Bigler, a great-granddaughter of John Blend, lived in the Blend family house near the Mahaffey Hill Road Bridge. His mother, Kathryn Bigler Capets, used to build a dam along the stream so she could swim, he said.

“This (stream) was a place you could play in the water and not get orange” color on your clothes, said Capets, noting that Brush Creek would discolor clothing because it contains mine drainage.

The stream that Capets wants to name is not the only unnamed stream in Westmoreland County.

“Westmoreland County has 2,037 miles of stream,” and the number of unnamed small streams are countless, said James Pillbury, the Westmoreland Conservation District’s hydraulic engineer for almost 40 years.