The presence and impact of Native Americans in what is today Centre County is a matter of both history and popular imagination. In the millennia before European contact with indigenous Americans, archaeology provides the evidence on which to base an understanding of the culture and history of these peoples. From the sixteenth century onward, historical […]
The Boogersburg School is a historic one-room schoolhouse in Patton Township where students were educated for 75 years. On May 1, 1877, Moses Thompson, the owner and ironmaster of the Centre Furnace, deeded land on what is now Fox Hollow Road for the schoolhouse. Thompson wanted to provide a school for the children of his […]
The embodiment of the Penn State spirit for many is the statue of the Nittany Lion, situated in a small grove of trees to the east of Rec Hall. It is quite likely the most photographed place on the campus. Hundreds of thousands of students in caps and gowns at graduation, couples in wedding garb, […]
The Nittany Lion is Penn State’s beloved mascot, “storied in song and legend.” It takes its name from Mount Nittany and the mountain lions that once roamed there and across Pennsylvania. Today, the Lion mascot is ubiquitous across campus for sporting, philanthropic, or any event that inspires the cheer “WE ARE … PENN STATE!” The […]
Mount Nittany is probably Centre County’s most famous geographical feature. Thanks to the Penn State football team, which plays in the “vale of old Mt. Nittany,” fans across the country are familiar with the name and image of the iconic ridge that rises above the Penn State campus and State College. As a result, Mount […]
Creamery is beloved institutional symbol of Penn State. Its ice cream and dairy products are legendary among alumni, students, and visitors. The Ice cream short courses have attracted students from every continent.
The Hotel State College is a State College landmark, known as the home of the popular Corner Room restaurant. In 1855, James Jack of Philadelphia opened “Jack’s Road House” at the corner of College Avenue and Allen Street. At the time, the hotel was a stage stop and a resting place for travelers waiting for […]
Ralph Dorn Hetzel lead Penn State from 1926 to 1947, a period of exceptional growth in enrollment and campus construction, despite the twin crises of the Great Depression and World War II. During his tenure, enrollment grew from about 4,000 to more than 12,000, including a several new satellite campuses. The university also embarked on […]
The Centre Daily Times is the daily newspaper in Centre County. During its more than 120-year history, it has published under different names and different owners. Like many daily newspapers in small communities around the United States, what began as the State College Times, and later became the Centre Daily Times, began as a weekly […]
The eighteen ironworks that operated across Centre County throughout the nineteenth century, including Centre Furnace, Rock Ironworks, Eagle Ironworks, Logan Furnace, Harmony Forge, and Pennsylvania Furnace, followed practices developed in Europe centuries earlier. The county had all the resources necessary for making iron: timber, limestone, and iron ore. It also had two major streams, Bald […]