• Bellefonte and Boalsburg

    Bellefonte is the county seat of Centre County. It is approximately 12 miles northeast of State College, and the borough population was 6,187 at the 2010 census. It houses the Centre County Courthouse, located downtown on the diamond. Bellefonte has also been home to five of Pennsylvania’s governors, as well as two other governors. All seven are commemorated in a monument located at Talleyrand Park.

    The town features many examples of Victorian architecture. It is also home to the natural spring, “la belle fonte,” bestowed by Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord during a land-speculation visit to central Pennsylvania in 1790, from which the town derives its name. The Bellefonte Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. Buildings on the National Register of Historic Places are: the Bellefonte Armory, Bellefonte Forge House, Brockerhoff Hotel, Centre County Courthouse, Gamble Mill, McAllister-Beaver House, Miles-Humes House, Pennsylvania Match Company, South Ward School, and the William Thomas House.

    Talleyrand Park

    Boalsburg is an unincorporated community also in Centre County. It is also near State College, and rhe population was 3,722 at the 2010 census. The Pennsylvania Military Museum is located in the town, and it has a lot of intact Victorian architecture.

    The name “Boalsburg” comes from the Boal family who settled the region after emigrating from County Londonderry, Ireland. The Boalsburg Historic District and Hill House were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. The Boal Mansion was added the following year. The village claims to be the birthplace of Memorial Day. However, that claim was brought into question by Bellware and Gardiner in their book, The Genesis of the Memorial Day Holiday in America, in 2014. In their book, Bellware and Gardiner point out that the Boalsburg story was first published in 1904, forty years after the fact with no indication that General Logan drew inspiration from any activities in Boalsburg and no evidence that it started the holiday.

  • Around Bald Eagle Lake

    The towns of Howard and Blanchard sit on or near the shores of Bald Eagle Lake in Centre County. I was able to capture some shots of the towns after a recent snowfall. First up on my trip was Howard.

    I made my way north towards the dam and the Blanchard area.

    PFC Foster Joseph Sayers Statue and War Memorial
  • A Well Preserved Historic Site

    Curtin Village and Eagle Ironworks is a historic district composed of buildings and structures related to an ironworks dating back to 1810. The village was founded by Roland Curtin, Sr., father of Pennsylvania’s Civil War-era governor Andrew Gregg Curtin, and Miles Boggs. It includes an iron master’s mansion (1830), a late-19th century Victorian style dwelling, the Eagle Furnace stack (1847), the remains of a grist mill, a number of worker’s houses, and an overgrown canal basin. The Eagle Ironworks closed in 1921.

    Owned by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, it is operated as the Curtin Village at Eagle Ironworks Historical Site by the Roland Curtin Foundation. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.

    The iron works is quite a large facility, at least compared to other iron furnaces that I have seen in the state. It’s amazing that this operated until 1921.

  • A Pre-Birthday Trip to Bald Eagle State Park

    I decided to celebrate a milestone birthday by taking a bucket list trip to stay at the Nature Inn at Bald Eagle State Park.

    The 5,900-acre Bald Eagle State Park is in the broad Bald Eagle Valley in Centre County. The 1,730-acre lake laps the flanks of Bald Eagle Mountain, surrounded by forests, fields, and wetlands. With two campgrounds, boating, fishing, swimming, the Nature Inn, and diverse habitats that are excellent for wildlife watching, Bald Eagle State Park offers many diverse recreational opportunities.

    I encountered some unusual early December snow on my trip. However, since I don’t get to photograph in these conditions very much, it made for some interesting pictures. The roads in the park were well-plowed, and I was able to reach even some of the more remote areas of the park.

  • Centre County Celebrates Christmas

    Homes and business in Bellefonte, Howard, Milesburg, and Boalsburg are decked out for the holidays.

  • Memorial Day Away

    I am spending this Memorial Day at a state park cabin. I will be back soon with more photos of northeastern Pennsylvania, including some new locations.

    In the meantime, here is a look back at my visit to Fort Indiantown Gap National Cemetery.

    and the Foster Joseph Sayers Memorial at Bald Eagle State Park …

  • A Study in Contrasts

    Greenwood Furnace and Penn-Roosevelt State Park may be close to one another, but they are very different in history and atmosphere. First up is Greenwood Furnace, which is one of those state parks with a lot of different activities available. It is in Huntingdon, PA.

    In its 423 acres, the park offers a lake with swimming, small craft boating, hiking, camping, hunting, fishing, as well as a chance to view some local history. The park also provides access to the 80,000 acre Rothrock State Forest. However, a trip to the park begins with its historic district, which contains a blacksmith shop and the remains of an iron furnace. The community that existed on the site from 1834 to 1904 was a 19th century ironmaking complex.

    The village blacksmith shop.
    An old iron furnace.
    The dam at the lake at Greenwood Furnace.
    Care for a dip?

    Penn-Roosevelt is a 41-acre park is in an isolated area of the Seven Mountains region known as the Stone Creek Kettle. While the park is small in size, it is surrounded by a large block of Rothrock State Forest in Centre County.

    Penn-Roosevelt is a good base for those seeking off the beaten track, low-density recreation in the State Forest. Activities include hiking on the Mid-State or other trails, gravel-riding on over 100 miles of Forestry roads, and mountain biking the nearby Cooper’s Gap area. There is also picnicking available. The small campground is rustic (tent camping only with latrines). However, one really does have the sense of being deep in the woods here. There is fishing in the streams in the park and access to hunting in the State Forest.

    One of the most notable aspects of Penn-Roosevelt State Park is that it was constructed during the Great Depression by the Civilian Conservation Corps Camp S-62, which was built in Stone Creek Kettle. This was, unfortunately per CCC policy, a segregated camp. The members of the camp were all African-American and it was one of only 12 such CCC camps in Pennsylvania. The members of Camp S-62 constructed many of the facilities in use today at Penn-Roosevelt State Park. They constructed a log-crib dam that has since received a stone facing. They also built many of the roads and trails in the surrounding Rothrock State Forest. Remnants of the camp, including two stone fireplaces and a stone bake oven, can be seen today in the woods of Penn-Roosevelt State Park.

    Remains of the CCC and a picnic area.

  • The Legacy of Heroism

    Bald Eagle State Park in Howard, PA is a 5,000 park that features a large reservoir for boating, fishing, and swimming, two campgrounds, hiking, hunting, and other activities. It is also the home of the Nature Inn, a unique hotel within the Pennsylvania state park system. The Foster Joseph Sayers Reservoir, was formed by damming Bald Eagle Creek and other smaller streams. Bald Eagle State Park is at the meeting point of two distinct geologic features. The Allegheny Plateau is to the north and the Ridge and Valley area of Pennsylvania is to the south.

    The park is named for the Lenape chief, Woapalanne, meaning bald eagle. Chief Woapalanne lived in the area for a brief period of time during the mid-18th century in a village that was on Bald Eagle Creek Path, part of the much more extensive Great Indian Warpath that stretched from New York into the Carolinas. This path was used by the Iroquois to conduct raids on the Cherokee in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Georgia. Pennsylvania Route 150 follows this path in some areas near Bald Eagle State Park.

    Foster Joseph Sayers Reservoir is a 1,730-acre (700 ha) reservoir that was built in 1971 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as part of a flood control project on the Susquehanna River basin. It stretches upstream for 8 miles (12.87 km) and has 23 miles (37.01 km) of shoreline.

    The lake is named for Foster Joseph Sayers, a World War II hero. Sayers grew up in Marsh Creek. He received the Medal of Honor for acts of bravery on November 12, 1944 near Thionville, France. His Medal of Honor citation reads as follows:

    CITATION: Rank and organization: Private First Class, U.S. Army, Company L, 357th Infantry, 90th Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Thionville, France, 12 November 1944. Entered service at: Howard, Pa. Birth: Marsh Creek, Pa. G.O. No.: 89, 19 October 1945. He displayed conspicuous gallantry above and beyond the call of duty in combat on 12 November 1944, near Thionville, France. During an attack on strong hostile forces entrenched on a hill he fearlessly ran up the steep approach toward his objective and set up his machinegun 20 yards from the enemy. Realizing it would be necessary to attract full attention of the dug-in Germans while his company crossed an open area and flanked the enemy, he picked up his gun, charged through withering machinegun and rifle fire to the very edge of the emplacement, and there killed 12 German soldiers with devastating close-range fire. He took up a position behind a log and engaged the hostile infantry from the flank in an heroic attempt to distract their attention while his comrades attained their objective at the crest of the hill. He was killed by the very heavy concentration of return fire; but his fearless assault enabled his company to sweep the hill with minimum of casualties, killing or capturing every enemy soldier on it. Pfc. Sayers’ indomitable fighting spirit, aggressiveness, and supreme devotion to duty live on as an example of the highest traditions of the military service.

    This beautiful park is well worth visiting and the lake is a fitting tribute to an American hero.

    The Foster Joseph Sayers Medal of Honor Memorial is at the dam end of the lake.
    Boating is a very popular activity at the lake.
    The park, with its woodlands, meadows, and lake, is a frequent stop for birders.
    Some Autumn views of the lake …

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