Map of the Kishacoquillas Valley area (Huntingdon and Mifflin Counties)
The star marks Airydale, barely recognizable
as a village now, at the "Tight End" (northwest) of
the Kishacoquillas Valley, just across the Miffllin County line
in Huntingdon County. Allensville is the closest post office.
McVeytown (Mattawana
on map) is across Jack's Mountain from Airydale along 522 and
the Juniata River.
Kishacoquillas once had a post office, and now consists
of the old seminary building and a row of houses along 655, northeast
of Airydale.
Mechanicsville is the old name for Belleville,
located between Airydale and Kishacoquillas.
Notice Sharpsburg, named for SZS's uncles, whose wagon
and cooper shop was its main business.
Often called "Big Valley" by its
natives, the Kishacoquillas Valley is protected by Jacks
and Stone Mountains and angles southwest to northeast, from Airydale
to Siglerville. Though its nickname implies otherwise, this valley
amid the Allegheny Mountain ranges is only 30 miles long and 4
to 5 miles wide at the widest point near Belleville. The county
line cuts across the valley near Sharpburg. Airydale and Sharpsburg
are on the Huntingdon side, while everything "down the valley"
(northeast) is part of Mifflin County. McVeytown, on the north
bank of the Juniata River, is across Jacks mountain, but still
a part of Mifflin County. The valley's official name recalls a
former resident, Kishacoquillas, a Shawnee chief, who was displaced
by Scotch-Irish, and 50 years later by the Amish (1791).
A larger scale map identifies Harrisburg along the Susquehanna River about 75 miles southeast of the Kishacoquillas Valley. Lewistown is the county seat of Mifflin County and Huntingdon is the county seat of Huntingdon County. Both cities are outside the boundaries of the Kishacoquillas Valley.