The following historic buildings in Bellefonte may be “little” but they have lots of history. Each has a unique story to tell, including a local store built over a waterway, the Bellefonte Train Station, a charming Quaker Meeting House, and a “Little House” belonging to the Bellefonte Girl Scouts.
MY CAFE BUZZ (325 W. High Street)
At 325 W. High Street, the unique “little building over the race” which is now My Café Buzz has an eclectic history. While no structures are identified at this location on local maps until after 1874, it appears to originate as a cigar shop in the early 1880s. Charles Rine built a smaller wooden framed shop on pilings over the mill race and identified it as a cigar and tobacco business there in 1883. In addition to cigars, Mr. Rine’s business expanded to fruit sometime around 1887. Mr. Peter Keichline acquired the property before 1898. In addition to being a confectionery, the Keichlines sold tobacco, foreign, and domestic fruits according to the 1901-1902 business directory in Bellefonte. According to his obituary in the Democratic Watchman (Nov. 24, 1939), Peter Keichline enjoyed so much success at this location, that “twice he was compelled to enlarge the building.” As seen in photos postmarked circa 1910, the building has a slight angle to its construction because it was built to make room for an adjacent railroad siding that curved slightly between it and another building, also built over the mill race. The frame building in the background eventually shows up behind it on a 1911 Sanborn Map (on page 20). Also in the provided photo (at the bottom of page 21) a Charles C. Keichline sign can be seen advertising Coca-Cola in Bottles, Fancy Fruits, Candies, and Cigars.
According to the memoir of Charles Mensch, Joseph and “Les” Thomas also owned and operated the store for many years. The old Thomas store was eventually sold to Joseph Boscaino who continued to operate it as a “newstand, tobacco, candy, novelty store, and soda fountain.” Boscaino’s Variety Store thrived into the 1990s. Over the years, it essentially served as a general store until its recent changeover to the cafe genre. Shortly after the Bush House fire in 2006, the “variety store” sold and became the Cafe on the Park for about a decade. In 2016, it became the Wine and Café at the Park (then the Bella Vino Wine Bar). Today, My Cafe Buzz is owned by Heather Lingle, who opened in 2020. They’ve added a lovely outdoor deck for seating and it is one of the most stylish and historic businesses in Bellefonte.
BELLEFONTE TRAIN STATION (Chamber of Commerce)
While a former wooden depot dated back to the 1860s, the current Bellefonte Train Station was completed in 1889 by the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR). One of the first photos taken of this “new” station was by a photographer heading to capture the destruction of the Johnstown Flood. As can be seen in the picture, the Democratic Watchman reported on May 17, 1889, that Pennsylvania Railroad employees worked to improve the grounds with graveled white limestone and circular plant beds. During the heyday of the “Pennsy” (PRR), one could take a train from Victorian Bellefonte to almost anywhere. The railroad even brought the PRR and Bellefonte amateur baseball clubs together in August 1889. Bellefonte defeated the railroaders from Philadelphia 21-7.
In 1889, the Railway Guide in the newspaper listed many passenger options of the “Pennsylvania Railroad and Branches” coming through Bellefonte; about 12 passenger trains a day. According to the schedule, one could leave Bellefonte at 9:32 a.m. and by way of Lock Haven, Williamsport, and Harrisburg, safely arrive in Philadelphia by 6:50 p.m. for dinner. Following the end of World War II, with the increase of improved highways and vehicle ownership, passenger trains would start to come to a halt.
Today the Nittany & Bald Eagle Railroad (NBER) still operates freight through Bellefonte. But if you want to take a passenger train, you better follow the Bellefonte Historical Railroad Society (bellefontetrain.org) for its wonderful events and excursions around the holidays and beyond!
QUAKER MEETING HOUSE (Knights of Columbus Council 1314)
At 315 Stoney Batter, a charming stone building once served generations of Quaker families (members of the religious Society of Friends) in Bellefonte. According to Linn’s History of Centre & Clinton Counties (1883), “among the early residents of Bellefonte were several Quaker families from Chester County including, the Valentines, Thomas’, Millers, and Irwins being the first.
While there was a meeting house in Halfmoon Valley, the Quakers in Bellefonte found it practical to establish their own place of worship in town rather than traveling about 18 miles to the Halfmoon Valley meeting house. Prior to the arrival of the railroads in the 1860s, 18 miles was at least a two day journey by carriage. The Quakers in Bellefonte would also meet in each other’s homes prior to the construction of the meeting house. However, in 1832, Linn continued that “the numerical strength of the Friends seemed sufficient to warrant the erection of a house of worship.” That year, the Valentine brothers, including George, Reuben, Bond, and Abram (Abraham), with their partner, William A. Thomas, “put up at their own expense, upon their own land, a meeting-house for the free use of Friends as might choose to gather there.”
Then in 1837, after a visit from the Baltimore Yearly meeting committee, the Quakers in Bellefonte united with the body of Orthodox Friends. The Quakers in Halfmoon Valley subscribed to another branch known as the Hicksite, or liberal Friends. The same year, 1837, the Friends’s graveyard was established a quarter of a mile south of the meeting house on “Quaker Hill” in Bellefonte. The burial ground includes William and Eliza Thomas, who are remembered for being conductors on the Underground Railroad.
According to historian Elwood Way, the Bellefonte Friends Meeting house was in operation from 1832 until 1919. In 1928, the property was sold to headmaster James R. Hughes, who also owned the Bellefonte Academy. In 1954, the Knights of Columbus Council 1314 took over ownership and continue to use and care for the historic meeting house today.
BELLEFONTE LITTLE HOUSE (115 W. Howard Street)
The Bellefonte Little House, originally known as “The Girl Scout Little House” is one of the last of its kind in the United States. In 1961, the Centre County Library agreed to allow the former carriage house belonging to the Humes estate (library property), to be renovated and used by Bellefonte Girl Scouts. In 1924, the first “Girl Scout Little House” was established in Washington, D.C. with the help of first ladies Grace Coolidge and Lou Henry Hoover. These Little Houses were intended to serve as headquarters for demonstrating “home making” activities for Girl Scouts.
Since 1961, the Centre County Library & Historical Museum has provided rent-free use to the Bellefonte Girl Scouts. The scouts have conducted fundraising efforts to make upgrades to the old carriage house, such as replacing the roof with a more efficient design. Other necessary interior improvements such as electrical, plumbing, and heating systems were installed as well. The community rallied around the cause and celebrated its open house in June of 1962. The Girl Scout Council of Pennsylvania sponsored this meeting place until 2016, when the “Friends of Bellefonte Little House” was organized and officially assumed responsibility for the maintenance, improvements and management. Current fundraising efforts are underway to maintain and improve the accessibility of the structure.
While only a dozen or so active “Little Houses” remain in the U.S., in Bellefonte, countless meetings, activities, events, and community service projects have continued for the past 60 years and counting. It’s a testament to our local scouts and community, whose dedication ensures that this building will continue to “serve as a home for Girl Scouts of Bellefonte to become women of courage, confidence, and character for future generations.”
Matt Maris is a local historian and co-owner of Local Historia. For more, visit localhistoria.com
