Rhoneymeade is a rural arboretum and sculpture garden at the ancestral home of Leonard Rhone, a founder of the Centre County Grange Encampment and Fair.
The 150-acre site between Boalsburg and Centre Hall was first settled by Michael Rhone in 1794. In 1853, Jacob Rhone, and his son, Leonard, began construction of the two-story brick home that is still on the property. They called it Rhoneymeade, the German adaptation for “Rhone’s meadow.”
Leonard Rhone was an early supporter of the National Grange to advance agricultural methods and to promote the social, political, educational, and economic needs of farmers. He was a leader of Centre County’s Pomona Grange and a founder of the Grange Picnic and Encampment, a one-day event in 1874 that grew to become today’s Grange Encampment and Fair.
One June, 13, 1894, the Rhone family celebrated the “One Hundredth Anniversary of the Occupancy of the Rhone Homestead.” More than two hundred family, friends, and Grange members attended the celebration which included music, speeches, and dinner.
Leonard Rhone’s two daughters, May and Florence, inherited the farm after his death in 1917. A barn fire twenty years later led them to sell the property to the Rimmey family. Three generations of the family operated the farm before selling it to Richard Morgan, a professor of molecular biology, in 1984.
Morgan restored the historic Georgian-style home, using it as his residence. After retiring he took sculpture classes at the Art Alliance of Central Pennsylvania and the Southern Vermont Art Center.
Morgan began installing some of his own sculptures, as well those of other artists, in the gardens around the home. There are now about thirty sculptures of various materials, including bronze, marble, wood, and metal, placed around the property.
The Rhone home was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. Morgan signed a conservation easement with the ClearWater Conservancy in 1986 that permanently preserves the 133 acres of fields, pastures, and woodlands from development. It was the first conservation easement for the Centre County-based organization.
In the early 1990s, Morgan began opening the grounds to the public about once a month. In 1996, a welcome center and art studio were built on the property.
Morgan died in 2015 and Rhoneymeade is now operated as a non-profit charitable organization. Rhoneymeade hosts various events annually, as well as art classes. It is open seasonally from sunrise to sunset.
Ford Risley
Sources:
“Art, nature and history converge at Rhoneymeade Sculpture Garden,” statecollege.com., July 13, 2018.
“Leonard Rhone House,” National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form, 1985.
Morgan, Richard S. & Lesher, James P. “Leonard Rhone’s Daughters” Centre County Heritage, Vol. 43, No. & 2, Fall 2009.
Rhoneymeade, rhoneymeade.org (Accessed October 35, 2025
First Published: October 25, 2025
Last Modified: November 13, 2025