Local Historia

I’ve been researching the jails in Bellefonte for several years, hoping to find which jails were earliest and where they were located. I got serious about this topic when a local told me her uncle once owned the property at 119 East High Street and that she remembered an old prison cell inside the basement.…

On a steamy Thursday evening in early June 1900, the Tyrone Borough Council met to discuss several issues facing the railroad boom town. This meeting, however, was different. A highly publicized issue was on the agenda and the civic-minded citizens of Tyrone came in droves to hear the results. Little did they know, the issue…

Many visitors and locals are fascinated by the big trout in Bellefonte’s Talleyrand Park. The fish can be found lurking beneath the cool waters of Spring Creek, in particular under the suspension bridge or between the falls (dam) and Veterans Bridge on High Street. Through the efforts of the Talleyrand Park Committee (Bellefonte Historical and…

Much has been written of the legendary 148th Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers of the Civil War and their prolific commander, James A. Beaver. From their regimental history, to numerous battlefield monuments at famous sites, to our very own immortalization on the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial in Bellefonte, this unit and their accomplishments are well-documented. Their involvement…

I recently received an interesting phone call from a world-renowned artist, Michael Pilato, who was working on a mural for Bellefonte. His art includes inspring stories from all over the world. You’ve likely parked or walked by one of his murals on Pennsylvania streetscapes in Williamsport, Emporium, or Pittston or on Hiester Street in his…

In the chaotic times of the 1760s, many settlers attempted to forge a homestead from the isolated frontier in the heart of the Pennsylvania wilderness. Decades before the iron boom of the nineteenth century, future Revolutionary War figure James Potter blazed a trail through Native American lands, proclaiming he’d “discovered an empire.” The years that…

Potter Township was founded 250 years ago. It is celebrated as Centre County’s oldest surviving township which still bears the same name. Back in 1774, it was part of Northumberland County and was much larger than it is today, even including Aaronsburg (now part of Haines Township). As the map of Pennsylvania unfolded westward, Centre…

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…

A romance blossomed in the 1860s between a world-class scientist and the daughter of an ironmaster. The first president of the Farmers’ High School, Dr. Evan Pugh, found his one and only Valentine in Bellefonte. Her name was Rebecca Valentine. Rebecca Valentine was born on February 12, 1832, the eldest daughter of Abram S. Valentine…

When cruising down Interstate 99, it’s easy to fly past exit 61. Nestled in the Bald Eagle Valley just off the highway between Tyrone and State College lies the small town of Port Matilda. Today, the town has a bank, market, post office, elementary school, and the Port Matilda Hotel and Tavern (which boasts some…