Bush House
The Bush House was a four-story hotel situated along Spring Creek in downtown Bellefonte built by Daniel G. Bush. Before it was destroyed by fire in 2006, it was a contributing property in the Bellefonte National Historic District.
Subject: Business & Industry
Robert Cole
Robert Cole was a self-trained architect who designed some of Bellefonte’s best-known buildings, as well as churches, homes and other structures in Centre County.
Limestone
Limestone has played an essential role in Centre County’s economic history. Widely used for both industrial and agricultural purposes, limestone has been mined in the county for more than 200 years.
College Heights Service Station
College Heights Service Station in State College is the oldest continuously operating service station in Centre County. The distinctive station was built by John N. and G. Dewey Krumrine on land that had been part of the Krumrine family farm in what is now the College Heights neighborhood.
John Patton
John Patton was a Revolutionary War veteran and prosperous Philadelphia merchant and civic leader, who moved to Centre County in 1789 to build the region’s first charcoal-fired iron furnace, Centre Furnace. The operation’s success sparked the founding of additional furnaces and forges in what would become Centre County.
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.
Logging Industry
Before European colonists arrived, Pennsylvania was an estimated 97 percent forested. Centre County is in an ecological region in which the aboriginal forest was dominated by white pine and hemlock, both of which had lucrative industrial applications that attracted colonists and entrepreneurs.
Centre Furnace
Centre Furnace was the first charcoal iron furnace in what would become Centre County. The remains of the furnace stack on East College Avenue are a reminder of the role the iron industry played in the early decades of the county’s history.
Barbershop Boycott
The Penn State barbershop boycott, organized by the NAACP, was a campaign of nonviolent action against the discriminatory practices of six barbershops in downtown State College. With the support of hundreds of Black and White students, the event was the first major civil rights protest at Penn State.
Gamble Mill
The Gamble Mill, located near the Lamb Street bridge in Bellefonte, was a water-powered gristmill built more than two centuries ago. It was an important part of the history of Bellefonte and of the more than 150 years of grain milling in Centre County.