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This Saturday take a short drive on Paul Mack Boulevard past the new Walnut Street Lucky 7 Travel Plaza and visit the unique mountainside village of Castanea. Turn left onto Allison Street and you'll arrive at the Logan Avenue Historical District and Castanea Train Station.
The 1871 founders of the town of Castanea, now annexed to Lock Haven, were Jacob Brown and Peter Keller, who built a one-room schoolhouse. They purchased the Joseph Hamberger farm and Castanea became a Township in 1877.
Originally, the town was a largely Italian community and chestnut trees were abundant. "Castagna" in Italian means "chestnut," which is how the community got its name and why it's pronounced "Cast-an-EE-uh." Castanea is Latin for chestnut.
Founders Brown and Keller constructed the oldest building in Castanea. It was a one-room schoolhouse and still stands today. Brown and Keller provided education for the young, and allowed religious groups to occupy the schoolhouse. The United Methodist Church provided an essential music program primarily orchestrated by Miriam Long, a third grade teacher at the Castanea Elementary School. And the Church Community Room was named in her honor.
To treasure Castanea history, this Saturday you may join folks from the area to celebrate "Castanea Community Days." The event begins at 8 a.m., July 22, 2023, at the Castanea Railway Station, 15 Logan Avenue. You won't get lost trying to find these places! The town is only about 1.4 square miles with less than 1,200 inhabitants.
You will arrive at an old train station, meticulously preserved by The Clinton County Historical Society, full of model train displays, a circular outdoor museum, restored caboose -- that you can actually occupy for a night -- and other railroad memorabilia.
Brown and Keller were tremendously influential within their community. The construction and use of the old schoolhouse/church reflects the long history of Castanea. Today you will find existing church furnishings made by Mr. Kammerdiner, who lived in the large Bald Eagle mountain gap that still bears his name. Hike over the "Kammerdiner" and you'll arrive in Salona's East End.
The first Castanea worship service was held in the home of Myron and Lavina Conklin on Logan Avenue in 1874 and eventually, it occupied the one-room schoolhouse.
A steeple was added by one of the eight congregations. Absent of portals, apse and buttresses, the old building clearly retained its historic integrity and architecture. In 1954 the Jacobs family turned the Church 90 degrees and added a vestibule and lower level.
You will easily find this small wooden frame building tucked away on the west side of McElhattan Avenue at the end of East Brown Street. Google 23 East Brown Street, Lock Haven. This "gathering place," which hosted fairs, festivals, concerts and other events is directly linked to the town Founders. Today the main structure of the Church is identical in its size, shape and appearance. You will be searching for the small one-room Church which was attached to a new, larger sanctuary in the nineties.
This one-room structure, in a good state of repair, was typical of the construction period of this time. As a community center, it was important to the residents and their history.
The little Church was preserved with the combined efforts of Joseph Kowalski, Susan Kowalski and Stephen Poorman. In 2022, Poorman filed an application to place this structure on the National Register of Historic Places. And, he recently purchased its large, classical organ and donated it to the Renovo Zion Lutheran Church. The piano was donated to the Woolrich United Methodist Church and a second organ was donated to the Caldwell United Methodist Church. A set of brass hand bells were given to the Great Island Presbyterian Church. Poorman also contracted to relocate a 6,100 pound six-foot cross, hand carved by Clinton W. Probst, to the entrance of Rest Haven Memorial Park.
The Founders, in laying out village streets, named its two main thoroughfares "Brown" and "Keller." While many other alleys and streets were named after those who came to develop the town, Brown and Keller are recognized as the most important individuals in the entire recorded history of Castanea.
The Brown/Keller influence is found everywhere including the Boyd Keller Reservoir Dam. The Keller Dam was operated under the opuses of the City of Lock Haven and today, a short walk will take you to the large Castanea Second Reservoir. It's a short walk and you won't get lost, but watch for bears.
The first reservoir, now dry, and the second reservoir were located near the Charles Framble and F. C. Lucas Brewing Company (c1868). Yes, Castanea made its own beer!
Those reared in Castanea may recall that it once offered a post office, penny candy store, soda jerk fountain, barber shop, grocery store, flower shop, seamstress, meat packing plant, vehicle repair garage, heating and plumbing showrooms, construction companies and other micro businesses. Most folks bought all of their provisions without leaving the village. And, if one wasn't distantly related to their neighbors, they knew them well. You truly could "leave your doors unlocked."
Castanea was the site of Native American Indian tribes. Most of the Italian families lived north of the old Church in an area suitable for gardening. Atop the Bald Eagle Mountain, you often find below-grade artifacts near the "Indian Caverns" or on the Great Island, east of Castanea. The Munsees Indians, a sub-tribe of the Lenape Nation, inhabited three villages in the area, one on the western side, one on the eastern side and one opposite the mouth of Bald Eagle Creek called Old Town Point. Old Town was the original given name for Lock Haven.
The Great Island, located about one quarter mile east of Lock Haven in the West Branch of the Susquehanna at the mouth of Bald Eagle Creek, is the most ancient and historic landmark in the region. This fertile island of about 325 acres of rich, well timbered ground surrounded by the clear water of the Susquehanna River, dubbed
Otzinachson, became an Indian rendezvous. Here they held tribal councils, built villages and lived, for the surrounding country afforded an abundance of game, the river an ample supply of fish and the island itself produced their staples of grain and corn.
Bald Eagle Creek flows through the village of Castanea and many artifacts have been found at this Native American site. If you want to learn more about the history of the region, contact the Clinton County Historical Society at 570-748-7254.
We've witnessed the disappearance of many churches from the landscape. And, many folks share fond memories of the small Castanea school house turned church.
The National Park Service wrote: "It's new to this region to have churches potentially closing, and to have to know what to do with them. There are generations of families with close connections to these places. However, through more varied use of the structures, such as by encouraging theatre groups to take advantage of the acoustics and layout already in the buildings, these places could gain the funding to remain open."
Lock Haven's East Main United Methodist Church, also closed, was recently reconfigured for alternate uses.
But no matter what is said or written, it's sad to witness historically significant and irreplaceable buildings of prominence fade away. As time goes by.
Stephen Poorman is a longtime area resident and business consultant.