Penn State historical marker program to be honored at CCHS awards. See all the winners
A program that recognizes historic locations across Penn State’s campus will be honored with the president’s award at Sunday’s 36th annual John H. Ziegler Historic Preservation Awards of the Centre County Historical Society.
The Penn State Alumni Association won the Centre County Historical Society’s President’s Award for the historical marker program, which has 68 historical markers on the University Park campus alone, and 17 at commonwealth campuses and other locations.
The award ceremony, slated for 3 p.m. Sunday at the Pennsylvania Match Factory in Bellefonte, home of the American Philatelic Society, will feature awards for historic preservation and advocacy projects from around the county, the CCHS wrote in a press release. The roughly hour-long presentation will be recorded by C-Net and available online at centrehistory.org and cnet1.org.
The Penn State historical marker program’s most recent marker was unveiled around this time last year at Penn State’s official birthplace just outside the Centre Furnace Mansion near the corner of Porter Road and East College Avenue.
The marker reads: “The charter for the Farmers’ High School of Pennsylvania was signed on Feb. 22, 1855. And on June 26 the board of trustees site selection committee visited Centre Furnace Mansion to inspect 200 acres offered by ironmaster James Irvin and enjoy a dinner hosted by Moses and Mary Thompson. After visiting sites across the state, on Sept. 12, 1855, the trustees approved board President Frederick Watts’ motion to locate the fledgling school here.”
The historical marker program began in 1990 and is a collaboration between the Penn State Alumni Association, the Office of Strategic Communications, the University Archives and the Office of Physical Plant. It commemorates Penn State academic and research accomplishments, people, places and traditions of the university.
Other John H. Ziegler Historic Preservation Awards recipients are:
Preservation and Restoration: Liz Grove, Pine Grove Hall, for the restoration and reuse of the historic Old Oak Tavern, originally the Odd Fellows Lodge, in Pine Grove Mills built in 1900.
History and Heritage: Potter Township Heritage Day Committee, Potter Township 250 Heritage Day 2024, for planning and hosting a township-wide celebration for the 250th founding of the township.
Education and Advocacy: Bellefonte Chapter National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, “Centre County American Revolution Soldiers and Patriots” by Nancy Stover, for their contribution to research, compile and publish an index to raise awareness of Centre County Soldiers and Patriots of the American Revolution.
Support and Volunteerism: Renea Nichols, for her contributions to historic preservation in Centre County through time, talent and project leadership to numerous county historical organizations and efforts, including the Bellefonte Union Cemetery and “Black History in Centre County, Pennsylvania,” a collaborative public history and arts project centering Black experience in Centre County from 1800-1950.
Jacqueline J. Melander Award: Philip Ruth, for the long-term commitment to historic preservation activities in Centre County as an architectural and public historian through his leadership in several county historical organizations such as Bellefonte’s Historical Architectural Review Board, the Bellefonte Historical and Cultural Association, and the Roland Curtin Foundation.
CCHS President’s Award: Penn State Alumni Association, Penn State Historical Marker Program, for the preservation and interpretation of Centre County and Penn State history through the Penn State historical marker program totaling 68 historical markers on the University Park campus, and 17 at commonwealth campuses and other locations, including most recently, the Centre Furnace Mansion.
