Bald Eagle and Spring Creek Navigation Co.
A pressing need to transport freight and people led to the building of Centre County’s only canal by the Bald Eagle and Spring Creek Navigation Company.
Learn More>>Explore Centre County’s History & Culture
Welcome to the Centre County Encyclopedia of History & Culture, an online resource sponsored by the Centre County Historical Society.
Currently, we are featuring articles about the Bald Eagle and Spring Creek Navigation Company and Harmony Forge. Starting in 1835, the Navigation Company built Centre County's only canal designed to transport freight and people. It was completed in 1848 and enjoyed a thriving business until 1865 when a spring storm badly damaged the canal and it never recovered. Harmony was a diversified ironworks built near Milesburg in 1795. The canal provided a link from Harmony Forge and other iron forges in the county to Lock Haven, where it connected to the Pennsylvania Canal.
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Featured Articles
Harmony Forge
Harmony Forge, built in 1795 near Milesburg, was one of the first iron forges to operate in what would become Centre County. It flourished as a diversified ironworks but closed in the early 20th century.
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Earth and Mineral Sciences Museum
The Penn State Earth and Mineral Sciences Museum & Art Gallery is home to a vast collection that highlights the history of the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences and Pennsylvania’s extractive industries.
Learn More>>Jail Hill
Jail Hill is the area near the Centre County Courthouse in Bellefonte where at least three 19th century jails were constructed starting in 1800, the same year the county was established. The first “prison houses” or “common goals,” as they were sometimes known, were built on East High Street.
Learn More>>Penn’s Creek
Penn’s Creek is the longest limestone stream in Pennsylvania. The scenic stream, which has its headwater near Penn’s Cave in Centre County, is known for outstanding fly fishing.
Learn More>>Refractories
The manufacture of refractories – brick capable of withstanding extremely high temperatures – was one of Centre County’s major industries for more than seventy years. By the early 20th century, about 800 workers at eight brickyards were producing what was commonly known as fire brick.
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