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We are developing a new display of artwork by local artist Helen Day.
In addition to the paintings generously donated by George Gedon, we are also showing some of her paintings from private collections. We thank the Porter Township Library, Lamar Fish Hatchery, Joyce Adgate, Paul and Karen Swanson and Elaine Miller for loaning their Helen Day paintings for the duration of the display. We welcome other loans and invite Helen Day's family to contact us. The opening date and reception will be announced when all plans are completed.
Dogwood Circle Club's September meeting met at the Heisey. Their 250America theme was taverns, a popular part of early American life. Two private collections of vintage beer steins are currently on display at the Heisey for a short time, accompanied by a brief history of beer steins. Come see!
Our next Second Sunday program is at the Barton Street School (formerly the Allison Township School) on Sept. 13 from 2-4 p.m. It's Grandparents' Day. Come see our collection of early Lock Haven police, fire and marching band items, an original post office and telephone exchange. Early school desks and books are also on display, plus much more!
Plan on these October date also:
-- Oct. 7: Spaghetti Dinner Fundraiser, at the Sons of Italy, Take Outs from 5-7 p.m., $10 per dinner.
-- Oct. 11: Roadside Research: America 250 Edition by Joby Topper, 2-4 p.m., at the Poorman Gallery.
FROM THE COLLECTION
By Kathy Arndt, Researcher
September is here and school is no longer "out for summer" as Alice Cooper sings. Schools have played a major part in the history of Clinton County. In 1834, the Pennsylvania State Education Act passed, declaring that each county was to become a school division and each ward, township and borough was to be a school district. The legislation included a 20 year grace period before the law had to be implemented. Because of this law dozens of schools were built throughout the county. The column this month will concentrate on Lock Haven schools while a later column will cover the growth of area schools.
The first school was built in 1810 on the southern end of what is now Hanna St. near the former Castanea Fire Co. station next to Bald Eagle Creek .Classes were held in 2-month sessions twice a year. The school closed about two years later because of the shift in population. In 1818, a log school was built near High St. on Bellefonte Avenue. (No closing date was found in our collection for this school).
In 1840, Messrs. Pollock and Wheaton opened the Lock Haven Academy on the NW corner of E. Main and Vesper Streets. The Academy operated until it lost its state funding in 1845. Other entities ran the school for several more years until it became part of the public school system. Coincidently, the site, but not the original building, is now the home of The Bus Stops Here, a store owned and operated by Paula Neyhart (a CCHS Business Supporter) and dedicated to the sale of educational books, tools and games for both teachers and students.
Before the end of the 1800s, many schools were built in the city. The First Ward School (now Robb) was built on the site of what is now the former E. Main Street Methodist Church. In the 1860s, the school moved into the old city courthouse at the corner of E. Church and Henderson Streets where the school is still located. In 1893, the courthouse was razed in order to build a new school. In 1959, the eastern section of the current school was added. At a later date, the 1893 section was replaced with a more up-to-date school building.
There was another school in First Ward that was referred to as the "negro school." It was apparently located in the eastern end of First Ward but the records in the collection are incomplete. Further research is required.
On E. Bald Eagle St., the Little White Schoolhouse was built in 1855. The subjects offered included the usual reading, writing and arithmetic as well as geography and orthography (spelling) among others. In 1892, that school was razed to build a new Second Ward School that later became known as Penn School, In 1962, Penn School became the home of the school district's first accelerated class. The school is now an apartment building.
In 1842, the Fourth Ward/Lincoln school was built on the SE corner of S. Fairview and W. Bald Eagle Streets. Until the building of this school, the Fourth Ward students from the Hill section went to classes in the Little Brown Schoolhouse on the corner of E. Park and W. Clinton Streets. In 1958, the Dickey school was built on the same site to replace the Lincoln School. At the time, it absorbed the students from the Lincoln and Penn schools. Because of dropping enrollments and high maintenance costs, the school closed in 2020. The McGhee Elementary School opened in 1955 on Fourth St. That school was demolished in 2004 leaving Robb, one of the first public elementary schools to be built in Lock Haven, to be the only one left.
In 1917, the Third Ward /Roosevelt School was built on the NW corner of Church and Third Streets. (Personal note, my grandmother taught at this school). On the western end of that block stood the Lock Haven High School built in 1868. Boys and girls for several years entered the school through different doors and attended separate classes. In 1914, the original high school was razed in order to raise a new building. By 1929, more space was needed for the high school. Roosevelt school students were moved to the first floor of what was to become the LH Junior High School so that the new Senior High School could be built on the elementary school site. In 1958, the W. Main Street building for the cafeteria, gym and classrooms was built. The building between the Junior and Senior High schools was constructed in 1970. The last class graduated from the high school in 1999 after which the students made the move to the new Central Mountain Middle School in Mill Hall and the Central Mountain High School in Bald Eagle Township as part of the newly formed Keystone Central School District.
Throughout the years, there have been several non-public schools in the city. In 1873, both the Catholic St. Agnes and Immaculate Conception (IC) schools were under construction. Students at St. Agnes Elementary School were initially taught in German by the nuns until the outbreak of WWI. The new IC school opened in 1875, and accommodated both elementary and high school students. In 1961, a groundbreaking ceremony for a new IC school was held on the grounds across from the church on W. Water Street which had been the site of the Queen's Run Fire Brick Co. The purchase of this land was the result of a gentleman's agreement made in 1906 between Father John N. Codori and the North American Refractories Co. which owned the fire brick plant. At the time, W. Water St. residents had grouped together to sue the company for pollution. The group had asked Fr. Codori to join the lawsuit but he objected to the possible loss of jobs for the workers and refused to join the suit.
The PA Supreme Court eventually dismissed the action and the company showed its appreciation to the diocese by offering to allow the church to have the first option to buy the property if the plant was to ever close or be sold. The plant closed in 1958 and the company honored the agreement. In 1963, the two parish schools merged into one and in 1964 the new IC Elementary School opened with grades K-4. In 1967, the IC High School closed.
In 1970, the Lock Haven Christian School opened in the Baptist Church on E. Church St. The school closed in 2016.
The Central State Normal School opened a Model School in the old Clock Tower building on campus in 1877 to help train future teachers. In the 1920s, the Model School, which covered grades K-9, was overcrowded. A new school was built next to Rogers Gym to hold grades 7-9. Eventually the clock tower was torn down and all the students moved to the new Model School which was renamed for Archibald P. Akeley in 1953. In 1961, the grades were confined to K-6. In the 1960s, there was a decline in secondary education students when a liberal arts degree program was added to the curriculum. Akeley School closed in 1977.
A future column will cover the history of the area schools in the County. The shift in populations, the arrival of school buses and the creation of the Keystone Central School District brought many changes to our schools. To be continued...