Neelyton was founded in 1885, the same year that the nearby Shade Gap branch of the East Broad Top Railroad was completed. The Neelyton Methodist Church was built in 1896 and the Shade Gap Branch of the EBT Railroad connected to Neelyton in 1910. The town began to grow and prosper until the East Broad Top Railroad abandoned this line to Neelyton in 1942. The town seems to have been frozen in time since then.

I was fortunate to interview the oldest citizen of Neelyton, Ramona Parsons, who was married in this church in 1952.

Neelyton History from local historian Ron Morgan:
https://www.huntingdondailynews.com/n...

East Broad Top Map:
Historic American Engineering Record - Delineated by: Isabel Yang, Matthew Kierstead (text), Andriy Prybeha, 1994.

East Broad Top Railroad Wiki:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Br...

EBT Abandoned Rails:
https://www.abandonedrails.com/east-b...

Friends of the EBR:
https://febt.org/aboutus/

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