Liberty Bells ‘tell a story of Centre County’ ahead of America’s 250th birthday

The United States is turning 250 years old next year, and one statewide organization is celebrating by dedicating uniquely-decorated fiberglass replicas of the Liberty Bell in each of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties, with the first of Centre County’s bells dedicated Friday.

America250PA kicked off the Centre County portion of its Bells Across Pa. program at Eagle Iron Works and Curtin Village by unveiling the first of four bells that will be located in the area. A second bell was also dedicated Friday at the Centre Furnace Mansion, and the third and fourth bells will be dedicated in December in Philipsburg and Bellefonte.

The program aims to honor local history, community and creativity, with each replica symbolizing Pennsylvania’s role in shaping the nation’s past, present and future.

According to Sue Hannigan, the president of the Roland Curtin Foundation (the organization that preserves the iron works and village), the two bells dedicated Friday honored the county’s early iron industries and the roles that the two locations played.

“The Centre Furnace Mansion bell that you’re going to see just outside State College was the first iron furnace plantation in the county, and [Eagle Iron Works] is the last, so these two bells bookend iron production in Centre County,” Hannigan said. “It makes it really special to have them both be dedicated on the same day.”

Eagle Iron Works and the Centre Furnace are two of the county’s oldest iron-making facilities, founded in 1810 and 1791, respectively. Eagle Iron Works was the final cold-blast charcoal iron establishment to close in Pennsylvania, shutting its doors in 1922. Centre Furnace ceased operations in 1858.

Because Curtin Village used bells in many different ways throughout its history, Cultural Heritage Research Services Director Phil Ruth said that the site makes the perfect spot for one of America250PA’s replica bells.

He cited bell usage at the houses located in Curtin Village, on the trains that ran on the nearby Bald Eagle Valley Railroad, in a nearby school house where the children of Eagle Iron Works’ employees would attend classes and more.

“All of those bells, with perhaps the exception of the steam locomotive bells, were made from cast iron, no doubt cast right here at Eagle Iron Works,” Ruth said. “This [replica bell] here is yet another composition though. This is fiberglass, but as you’ll see here in a moment when we unveil it, it’s the fanciest of them all.”

Fiberglass isn’t the only thing that makes the bell fancy though — the iron works’ bell, and all others across the state, are decorated by a local artist in a theme based off of the historical site where they’re located.

Curtin Village’s bell was painted by artist Elody Gyekis, who, despite calling the project a challenge, wanted to give those visiting the replica a visual representation of how the facility would work in its heyday.

Some of the scenes depicted on the bell include the felling of trees that were burnt into the charcoal needed to fuel the furnace, the burning of the wood into charcoal, a mule-pulled cart taking the charcoal and iron ore to the furnace, a worker controlling the melted iron ore into a mold, the forge where iron products would be made and a mule-pulled canal boat.

Many at the event, including County Commissioners Amber Concepcion, Steve Dershem and Mark Higgins, lauded the artwork.

“These bells tell a story of Centre County in which the impact of work here extended far beyond our own communities,” Concepcion said. “In this, they will remind future visitors that the work we do at the local level can have far-reaching significance in shaping our region, state and nation.”