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State College
"In the early 1850s the Pennsylvania State Agricultural Society resolved to establish an agricultural school. The new institution would be called the "Farmers' High School." Legislative approval was needed, and a Bill to incorporate the Farmers' High School was passed in 1855. The new school's Board of Trustees considered 200-acre land grant proposals from individuals in 5 counties. One offer, from James Irvin of Bellefonte, was made more attractive by the pledge of Hugh N. McAllister and Andrew G. Curtin, both of Bellefonte, to join Irvin in raising $10,000.00 from local citizens for the new school. The Society accepted Irvin's offer.
The 200 acres were located on farm land not far from the small iron-making community of Centre Furnace. The land was owned by Irvin and his brother-in-law, Moses Thompson. The nearest town was Boalsburg; the County seat of
Bellefonte was 12 miles away and could be reached by only the most primitive of roadways. The closest railroad was 22 miles away at Spruce Creek. This certainly was an isolated spot for a new adventure.
In 1856, the construction of a 5-story stone structure was begun. In February, 1859, with only the west wing of Old Main completed, 69 students arrived to start their education.
The struggling school's first post office address was "Farm School, Boalsburg." In 1860, a post office was opened in Old Main. The surrounding area consisted of farms, a few houses and "Jack's Road House," a hotel at the southwest corner of what would become College Avenue and Allen Street.
With the passing of the Morrill Act of 1862, establishing a land-grant system of financing schools whose object was the teaching of those branches of learning related to agriculture and the mechanic arts, money became available to certain qualified colleges. Since Morrill's Bill spoke only in terms of "colleges" and "universities," the Centre County Court approved a new name for the Farm School. It would now be called the Agricultural College of Pennsylvania. The small community reflected this change and became known as "Agricultural College."
In 1860, the resident population was 25 and the student population was 110. As the college grew, the small hamlet attracted new citizens who worked at the college or provided services for the growing population. The old farms were divided and lots were sold. By 1896, the village had grown to a resident population of 300 and a student population of 337. The need for better streets, schools and lighting led the small town to incorporate on August 29, 1896." statecollege.com
"The townspeople had incorporated in order to secure better streets and street lighting, an adequate school, improved utilities, and other amenities not then associated with rural living. They were undoubtedly pleased with the first ordinance passed by the borough council, which authorized the Central Pennsylvania Telephone and Supply Company to erect and maintain telephone lines in the community. However, another early ordinance-one prohibiting the grazing of cows and horses in borough streetswas apparently too "citified" for most residents; after a popular outcry, council repealed it. Nevertheless, the town was fast maturing, as evidenced by the establishment of its first newspaper in 1898 (the State College Times, forerunner of the Centre Daily Times), a Western Union Office in 1902 (previously all telegrams had to be sent and received at Bellefonte), and its first movie theatre in 1909 (the Pastime). Faculty were the prime movers behind many civic enterprises, including the State College Water Company, the Nittany Light, Heat and Power Company, the Commercial Telephone Company (a rival to the Bell system), and the first bank (1904).
The number of permanent residents kept pace with the number of students as both the borough and the College expanded. In 1930, for example, the borough had a population (excluding students) of about 6,500, while the College recorded an enrollment of about 6,200. Citizens took pride in the neatness and cleanliness of their community, whose well-maintained properties and quiet, tree-lined avenues seemed to represent the epitome of the American college town. To protect the borough from the consequences of disorderly growth, council passed its _first zoning ordinance in 1927 vid several years later authorized the formation of a planning commission. (Even many large cities had not yet taken such measures.)" Penn State an illustrated history, Michael Bezilla
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