Local Historia

A Complicated Past

Local HistoriaEvery September 17, Americans across the country observe Constitution Day, an opportunity to remember and celebrate the monumental task our founding fathers took on in 1787 to create a new […]

A Tale of Two Tunnels

Local HistoriaThe two tunnels at Coburn and in Poe Paddy State Park are a great way to reflect upon and experience railroad history in central Pennsylvania. Both tunnels were constructed in […]

Local Historia: Daring to Fly ‘Hell Stretch’

Local HistoriaIt’s the early hours of an unusually warm, dry June Saturday—perfect conditions for testing the U.S. Airmail’s experimental night flights. The difficulties of flying, especially the “Hell Stretch” above the […]

Gangsters to Grandmothers: Prohibition in central PA

Local HistoriaThe ratification of the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution in 1919 was the culmination of temperance movements across the United States. Prayers and protests made in front of saloons during […]

Walker Built His Career on Slavery Before Advocating Freedom

Local HistoriaBy the latter half of the 1860s, still working diligently under candlelight on his latest criticisms of U.S. tariffs and spending, Bellefonte’s own Robert Walker had constructed a complicated legacy […]

The Famed Rattlesnake Pike

Local HistoriaThe world of a post-Revolution Pennsylvanian was small. Communities sprouting in the Appalachians were secluded, typically appearing alongside precious resources of the era like fertile soil and iron ore. These […]