Centre County Historical Society and university leaders gathered Thursday afternoon to unveil a new historical marker commemorating Centre Furnace Mansion as the “Birthplace of Penn State.”
The mansion at the corner of Porter Road and East College Avenue, at one time the residence of the Centre Furnace ironmaster and now the home of the historical society, played a key role in the selection of Centre County in 1855 as the site for the newly chartered Farmers’ High School of Pennsylvania — what would eventually become the Pennsylvania State University.
“In 1855, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania showed such foresight in saying we need to establish collegiate level education,” President Neeli Bendapudi said. “And this was supposed to be for agricultural education, which continues to be such a key part of our state economy, our ethos, our culture. So from the very beginning for Penn State the goals have been what we do should support and enrich Pennsylvania.”
The historical marker is the latest addition to the 68 sponsored by the Penn State Alumni Association and details the events of 1855 that led to the school’s founding.
A charter to create a school to teach agricultural science to the sons of Pennsylvania farmers was signed on Feb. 22, 1855, and its trustees set out to consider offers for a location around the state.
Those included an offer of 200 acres by Gen. James Irvin, owner of the Centre Furnace, which was established in 1792 as the first hub for ironmaking in Centre County and which would spur the area’s early population growth. (A state historical marker already stands next to the remains of the stack across the road from the mansion.) On June 26, 1855, a committee of trustees visited the mansion — then home to Irvin’s partner brother-in-law and sister, Moses and Mary Thompson — to consider the offer.
There they received an enthusiastic reception from some 150 community members, with whom they enjoyed a dinner hosted by the Thompsons.
The occasion left an impression. On Sept. 12, 1855, after consideration and debate over other sites, the trustees selected the Centre Furnace land on a motion by board president Frederick Watts.
It would be more than three years before the school opened, following completion of the “College Building,” later named Old Main, in 1859. In 1862, the school, which was the first in the country to offer baccalaureate degrees in agricultural science, was renamed the Agricultural College of Pennsylvania and a year later it was designated as Pennsylvania’s sole land-grant institution.
“The idea was how do we make higher education not just for some people but for everyone,” Bendapudi said. “They truly understood what higher education can do to improve not only just one person’s life, but have those ripple effects on their families and their communities. “
It became the Pennsylvania State College in 1874, and in 1953 the institution became the Pennsylvania State University.
In the 169 years since the trustees visited the ironmaster’s home, Penn State has, of course, grown immensely. According to Bendapudi, 96% of Pennsylvanians live within 30 miles of one of the university’s 24 campuses.
Roger Williams, Centre County Historical Society president, said the historical marker is “a culminating effort to plant our flag and make more visible to the public the role of Centre Furnace Mansion in what is now the great Pennsylvania State University.”
“We just wanted to make sure that the public and the university are aware of what we have here and what its role is in the origins of the Farmers High School and now the Pennsylvania State University,” he added.
The mansion was bequeathed to the historical society in 1975 and opened to the public after being restored to its appearance during the residency of Moses Thompson’s family from 1842 to 1891, according to CCHS. Since then, Williams said, about 250,000 people have come through its doors to explore the history of the region and Penn State.
“We’re hoping to do more to attract a crowd, and when we do this will make them even more aware of the role of the mansion in Penn State history,” Williams said.
