Dustin Elder
-
Local Historia: The Central PA Legend Who Taught America to Sing
—
by
In the era of snap orchestras, swing and the Big Band, one personality rose from the industrial heart of Pennsylvania to captivate audiences across the country and “taught America how to sing”: Fred Waring.
-
Local Historia: The Penn State Coach Behind the World Cup’s Greatest Shock
—
by
Bill Jeffrey and the night American soccer stunned the world
-
Local Historia: The Buckshot War of 1838
—
by
Centre County and its residents played a role in one of the most tumultuous political sagas in Pennsylvania history: the Buckshot War.
-
Local Historia: Education in the 1800s
—
by
Early Centre County schoolhouses featured “tyrannical, illiterate” teachers, historian John Blair Linn wrote.
-
Local Historia: The Story of Robber Lewis Sherman
—
by
In 1860, a cunning thief’s violent actions, dramatic capture and audacious escape from a Bellefonte jail became the stuff of local legend.
-
Local Historia: ‘Billboard’ Jackson’s Pivotal Role
—
by
Bellefonte-born James A. “Billboard” Jackson became an influential voice in Black entertainment, business and travel in the first half of the 20th century.
-
Local Historia: All Aboard for Penn State!
—
by
Train service between Bellefonte and State College began in 1892
-
Local Historia: George Harris Captures the Flag
—
by
Centre County’s George Harris inspired his regiment and earned a Congressional Medal of Honor for his heroic actions at the Bloody Angle in 1864.
-
Settling the Frontier: The First Land Grabs of Centre County
—
by
Decades before the iron boom of the 19th century, future Revolutionary War figure James Potter blazed a trail through Native American lands, proclaiming he’d “discovered an empire.” The years that followed highlight one of America’s great land grabs, which quite literally carved out the communities of today’s Centre County.
-
Local Historia: The Walter L. Main Circus Train Wreck Tragedy
—
by
In the early morning hours of May 30, 1893, Engineer “Red” Cresswell attempted to bring Walter L. Main’s circus train—full of exotic animals, expert performers, employees, equipment and Main himself—down one of the most treacherous stretches of railroad in all of Pennsylvania. Despite his reservations about the ability to control the oversized railcars, pressures from…