In the beginning of the 20th century, aviation was not a technology on the minds of most everyday folk. A technology known for its dangerous crashes and malfunctions, aviation failed to resonate as a meaningful science. Centre County’s own pilot pioneer, Sherman “Sherm Lutz” embraced the adventure, but also had a grander vision of bringing commercial airline flights to the region.
Tough Times and Lasting Legacies: The Great Depression, the New Deal, and Centre County Presented by the Centre County Historical Society in 2008. Pennsylvania’s history as an industrial leader made it especially vulnerable to the economic breakdown that epitomized the 1930s and the Great Depression. Within four years of the stock market crash of 1929, […]
Archaeological excavations conducted in 2009 and 2010 by Heberling Associates, Inc., unearthed the foundations of the Valentine iron ore washing plant, which operated from 1887-1898. Also found were pieces of machinery and the tools used by the men who worked there.
Those Who Came Before – The Archaeology of Centre County’s Native Americans, explored the rich history of the people who lived in Central Pennsylvania for thousands of years before Euro Americans arrived. This exhibit was presented in 2011 by the Centre County Historical Society, the Bald Eagle Archaeological Society, and the Matson Museum of Anthropology […]
Objects like samplers and fraktur often hold important historical context and family history. Examples in the exhibition are from Centre County, and more broadly Central PA for the most part.
Early Housing The Victorian Age Early Twentieth Century Architecture Bibliography View the PDF Centre County was, for the first half century or so of its history, cut off from more populated areas of Pennsylvania by the “Endless Mountains,” the long folded Appalachians that can be seen from nearly every point in the County. Because this […]
Centre County’s iron industry began with the building of Centre Furnace in 1791 – only the second charcoal iron furnace in the area known as the Juniata Iron Region. The region had been scouted for its raw materials potential, and entrepreneurs found everything they needed in central Pennsylvania. They came looking for the success and […]
In 2001, Elizabeth Cannon of State College donated her collection of 844 picture postcards to the Centre County Historical Society, dating from 1900 to 1965, from all the towns and villages of Centre County. CCHS archives volunteer, Monty Christiansen, spent nearly three years cataloging this collection uncovering fascinating county history disclosed on both sides of […]
Congratulations Schlow Library for 60 years of continued service to the State College community. This is a compilation of photos of downtown State College in the 1950s-60s.
Centre Furnace Mansion became a quiet retreat after the first generation of Thompson children grew up and moved away from home, and Moses and Mary settled into old age. But in the last decade of the nineteenth century the Mansion was to come alive again as another generation of young people filled the house with […]
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