‘Ultimate act of philanthropy’: Swoope donation aims to preserve Philipsburg history

The Philipsburg Historical Foundation is taking ownership of the Moshannon Building on Front Street in downtown Philipsburg, thanks to a donation from the estate of the late Walter Swoope Jr., a well-known community benefactor and historian.

“Walter Swoope’s vision for a newly resurgent downtown Philipsburg will be greatly enhanced by his generous and thoughtful gift to the Historical Foundation, and we are very grateful for it,” said PHF President Susan Allport-Schneider in a press release. “By giving us the building in which our museum of Philipsburg area history is located, Walter has assured that museum activities can go on uninterrupted.”

Swoope, who owned the Moshannon Building for over 20 years, did many improvement projects on it, including a complete restoration of the facade, the installation of a new roof and thermal windows and a reconstructed heating and cooling system, according to Allport-Schneider.

The next step for PHF, said curator Luther Gette, is to find tenants for the building to increase extra funds.

“If we can generate some income from the building, there’s a huge number of projects like restoration and historical stuff (we can do),” he said.

The PHF would like to digitize the archives of the Philipsburg Journal from its founding in 1868 to the present, he said.

“If it’s digitized, you can search by keyword, search by date, search by whatever you want to search by,” he said.

With additional income from the building, donations from private citizens and annual donations of $2,000 from the county and $5,000 from Philipsburg Borough, said Gette, the PHF can continue its upkeep for the museum and historical properties like the John Henry Simler House and the old Union Church, commonly known as the Mud Church.

The donation of the Moshannon Building to the PHF was “an ultimate act of philanthropy” from Swoope, said Gette.

According to county records, Swoope’s estate owns six properties in Philipsburg, valued at almost $580,000. One of those is the Carlisle-Loraine House at 336 S. Centre St., a Victorian Gothic built in 1889. Several properties previously owned by him have already been transferred or sold, including one at 22 N. Front St. sold in late March, per county records.

This story was originally published May 2, 2019 at 10:51 AM.