Pennsylvania
Buying Land in Blair County, Pennsylvania
County seat Hollidaysburg; largest city Altoona, founded in 1849 as a Pennsylvania Railroad base town. Blair County has run a shared septic-permitting committee across thirteen of its townships since 1967, well before most counties formalized multi-municipal sewage enforcement. Zoning, by contrast, remains a municipal question -- confirm directly with the specific township or borough before buying.
Zoning: confirm directly with the township or borough
Blair County maintains a Planning Commission (423 Allegheny Street, Suite 046, Hollidaysburg; (814) 693-2080), but this research pass found no evidence that the county administers zoning directly for any specific municipality the way a handful of other Pennsylvania counties in this batch do for select townships. That means zoning in Blair County should be treated as a municipal question by default: some townships and boroughs will have adopted their own zoning ordinance under the state's Municipalities Planning Code, and some rural townships may not have adopted zoning at all, consistent with the statewide pattern of optional local adoption. Rather than assuming either outcome, confirm current zoning status and district rules directly with the specific township or borough office covering the parcel you're evaluating.
A rail town with real history behind it
Altoona, Blair County's largest city (though not its county seat -- that's Hollidaysburg), was founded in 1849 by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company specifically as a base of operations for building the railroad over the Allegheny Mountains, and it sits at the approach to the famous Horseshoe Curve. The railroad's dominance of the local economy was total for generations: by 1925, roughly 14,000 of the area's 17,000 industrial workers were Pennsylvania Railroad employees. That single-industry concentration, and its decline after the 1960s, shaped a lot of the land-use patterns still visible around Altoona today -- former rail yard, shop, and industrial sites, and a settlement pattern built around the railroad rather than agriculture. Buyers looking at land closer to Altoona and its immediate surroundings should factor in this industrial legacy (potential brownfield or former-industrial-use history on specific parcels) differently than buyers looking at Blair County's more rural outer townships, which have a more conventional agricultural and forested land-use history.
Septic: a shared committee covering thirteen townships since 1967
Blair County has run a genuinely long-standing shared arrangement for onlot sewage permitting: the Blair County Sanitary Administrative Committee, created in 1967, well before most Pennsylvania counties formalized multi-municipal Sewage Enforcement Officer arrangements. Thirteen townships are member municipalities, each appointing its own representative to the committee: Allegheny, Antis, Blair, Catharine, Frankstown, Huston, Juniata, Logan, North Woodbury, Snyder, Taylor, Tyrone, and Woodbury Townships. Rather than each of those thirteen townships separately hiring and managing its own certified Sewage Enforcement Officer, the committee provides a single, shared point of contact for permit applications, soil and perc testing, and enforcement across all of them -- based out of an office at 225 Bedford Street in Hollidaysburg. If your target parcel sits in one of these thirteen townships, this committee (not a separate township-hired SEO) is your starting point; for Blair County municipalities outside this list -- including Altoona and Hollidaysburg themselves, and any townships not named above -- confirm the applicable Sewage Enforcement Officer arrangement directly, since this page does not have a complete picture of septic administration outside the committee's thirteen members.
Records, GIS, and other departments to know
The Blair County Recorder of Deeds (423 Allegheny Street, Hollidaysburg; (814) 693-3095) holds recorded deeds, easements, and plats. The Assessment Office ((814) 693-3110), at the same address, handles property valuation and tax records, with online access available through CourthouseOnline.com using the control number on a property's tax bill. Blair County GIS Services ((814) 693-2535) and its public Parcel Viewer (gis.blairco.org) provide parcel boundaries and aerial imagery -- a useful way to confirm exactly which of Blair County's municipalities, including whether it's one of the thirteen Sanitary Administrative Committee member townships, covers a specific parcel before making calls.
Who to Call Before Buying Land in Blair County
Direct WebFetch access to blairco.org was not attempted in this research pass, so several details reflect search-indexed content rather than a full verbatim read -- confirm current staff, hours, and fees directly, and confirm zoning status with the specific municipality before relying on this page.
Planning & Zoning
Blair County Planning Commission
County-level planning support; confirm zoning status directly with the specific township or borough.
Building & Permitting
Blair County (municipality-specific)
Building permits -- contact the specific township, borough, or the City of Altoona directly.
Septic / Onsite Wastewater
Blair County Sanitary Administrative Committee
Onlot sewage (septic) permits, soil probes, and perc testing for the thirteen member townships (Allegheny, Antis, Blair, Catharine, Frankstown, Huston, Juniata, Logan, North Woodbury, Snyder, Taylor, Tyrone, and Woodbury).
GIS / Parcel Records
Blair County GIS (Geographic Information Services)
Parcel boundaries, aerial imagery, and the county Parcel Viewer.
Assessor / Property Tax
Blair County Assessment Office
Property assessment and tax records.
Recorder / Clerk / Land Records
Blair County Recorder of Deeds
Recorded deeds, easements, and plats for a specific parcel.
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Get local guidanceSources
- Commissioners — Blair County, PA (accessed 2026-09)
- Blair County Planning Commission — City of Altoona, PA (accessed 2026-09)
- Altoona — Encyclopaedia Britannica (accessed 2026-09)
- History of Altoona — City of Altoona, PA (accessed 2026-09)
- Blair County Sanitation Committee — Antis Township, Blair County, PA (accessed 2026-09)
- Township of Logan, PA: Approval by Blair County Sanitary Administrative Committee — Logan Township, Blair County, PA (eCode360) (accessed 2026-09)
- GIS (Geographic Information Services) — Blair County, PA (accessed 2026-09)
Last reviewed 2026-09