TWENTIETH CENTURY HISTORY OF CLEARFIELD COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS by Roland D. Swoope, Jr. Chicago, Ill., Richmond-Arnold Publishing Company, 1911
CHAPTER XIV.
HISTORY OF MAHAFFEY BOROUGH.
The Borough of Mahaffey is situated on the West Branch of the Susquehanna River, near the mouth of Chest Creek. The town was named in honor of the late Robert Mahaffey, who was its founder, having located on the site of the town and made an improvement there in the year 1841. Mr. Mahaffey called the place "Franklin," and it was so designated for many years.
Mahaffey was incorporated as a borough in the year 1889. It has four churches, fine public schools and its industries consist of a large tannery and a grist-mill.
Mahaffey is a junction of the Pennsylvania & Northwestern division of the Pennsylvania Railroad with the Beech Creek division of the New York Central & Hudson River Railroad, both roads having branches leading to the different coal operations in the neighborhood.
Mahaffey is a prosperous and growing town and its people are wide awake and progressive. The present population of the borough is about five hundred.
Mahaffey Sanborn Map, 1903
Mahaffey School circa 1910