1. Sarah Koenig, host of popular podcast "Serial" resides in Centre County
2. Largest Weather Company, Accuweather is based and was created in
State College
3. Adam McKay, writer of Step Brothers and Anchorman went to Penn State
4. Mark Parker, CEO of Nike went to Penn State
5. Jennifer Aniston's father, John Aniston went to PSU
6. Former LA Raiders Tight End Todd Christensen is originally from
Bellefonte.
7. Screenwriter and producer of Casablanca, Julius Epstein graduated from
Penn State
8. PSU President Milton Eisenhower was brothers with US President Dwight
D Eisenhower
9. Four Penn State Alumni have flown in space
10.The creators of Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream got their start from taking a
Penn State Course
11.The Centre County Barrens is the coldest region in Pennsylvania once the
sun sets. The Barrens is just four miles west of Penn State's main campus
located in State College.206 Days out of the year the low temperature is
below 32 degrees. 12.The most rainfall Centre County has ever received in a day was 5.05" on
9/18/2004
13.Hillary Clinton's father Hugh Rodham graduated from Penn state. 14.There are 100 words in the PSU Alma Mater. There are 4 versus and it
was written by Fred Lewis Pattee
15.The PSU Obelisk weighs 53.4 tons and is 32.7 feet tall. It's made up of
281 stones from 139 counties -- 54 of those counties are in PA. 16.The PSU Creamery sells over 750,000 ice cream cones/year
17.The only person to ever mix flavors at the creamery is Bill Clinton
18.During the first year that PSU was a school, the cost of tuition, room/
board, bedding and candles was $100
19.Penn State's school colors were selected as pink and black in 1887 and
then changed to blue and white in 1890
20.Boalsburg is the birthplace of Memorial Day because in 1864, three local
women decorated the graves of fallen Civil War soldiers
21.Madisonsburg is only .1 square miles 22.Bellefonte has been the home to 7 US Governors, five who served
Pennsylvania.
23.The 2010 movie "Unstoppable" with Denzel Washington was shot in Bald
Eagle Valley, Milesburg, Pleasant Gap, and Port Matilda
24.Aaronsburg was founded by Aaron Levy in 1786 and is the first town in
Pennsylvania to be laid out and named after someone who is Jewish.
25.Centre County is the fifth largest county in the state.
26.In 1892, he Bellefonte Central Railroad connected the county seat of
Bellefonte and State College. The trip at that time took one hour and
fifteen minutes.
27.In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, almost every town in Centre County
had its own town band. These bands played at local celebrations and
parades.
28.The Beaver Mill Lumber Company located inside the present day Black
Moshannon State Park was the largest single lumber operations in all of
Pennsylvania. Weather stumps now mark where the lumber company cut
these tress about a century ago.
29.The first wood screws in the U.S. were manufactured in Philipsburg in
1821. The screw factory was built and owned by Harman Philips.
30.Bellefonte was the stop for the first scheduled air mail flight in 1918.
The airfield, which was located near the current high school, accepted
air mail flights until 1925.
31.John Montgomery Ward, a Hall of Fame Pitcher who played from 1878 –
1894 is in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
32.According to legend, centuries ago the Seneca Indians discovered the
natural landmark now known as Penn’s Cave.
33.Penn’s Cave is America’s only all-water cavern and wildlife park.
34.The first car built in Centre County was made by R. Bierly and Sons
Carriage Makers of Milesburg in 1901.
35.During World War I, people were urged to plant vegetable plots in the
community gardens in a State College sinkhole. That sinkhole today is
Memorial Field.
36.The nation’s first Driver’s Education Course was taught at State College
High School in 1939.
37.When Penn State College changed its name to University in 1953,
President Milton Eisenhower tried to persuade the town to change its
name also. A referendum failed to change the name of the town to Mt.
Nittany.
38.Grange Fair is the oldest encampment fair in the United States. It began
in 1874.
39.The grandfather of Fred Rogers (Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood) owned and
operated McFeely’s Brick Company in Port Matilda in 1926.
40.Bellefonte was one of the first towns in the United States to have
electricity, In 1883, the Edison Company laid out plans for providing the
towns with electric lights.
41.In 1829 Harvey Mann began an axe-making operation along Logan Branch
at Boiling Springs. In its heyday, the plant at Axemann made single and
double billed axes and turned out 350 axes a day.
42.Ye Olde College Diner, located in State College, was voted #3 on the Best
Places to Eat a Sticky Bun in 2005. The diner has served grilled sticky
buns since 1929.
43.Baby’s Burgers & Shakes in a 50’s style diner located in State College. It
was once featured in a Visa commercial, saying they don’t accept
American Express.
44.Pennsylvania Match Factory was one of the nation’s leading producers of
wooden matches during the first half of the 20th century. It was founded
in 1899 by Bellefonte entrepreneurs.
45.Squire Clement Beckwith laid out Port Matilda in 1850 and named it after
his daughter, Matilda. Why he chose Port Matilda is not clear, but the
name may have reflected his hope that the town would be connected to
the Bald Eagle and Spring Creek Branch of the Pennsylvania Canal.
46.The Shawnee and Delaware Indians were State College’s earliest
inhabitants. Mount Nittany was named for thy mythical princess NitaNee, a Lenni-Lenape of the Delaware Tribe.
47.Centre Furnace was the first charcoal iron furnace in the region from
1972-1809 and was operated by John Patton and Samuel Miles.
48.Anna Wagner Keichline was the first woman registered as an architect in
Pennsylvania in 1920. The Bellefonte native designed numerous buildings
and also served as a Special Agent, Army intelligence in WWI.
49.Major League Baseball player Matt Adams is from Philipsburg.
50.Matt Suhey, played for Penn State and won a Super Bowl with the
Chicago Bears. He was born in Bellefonte.
51.Bald Eagle State Park is the largest state park in Centre County with
5,900 acres.
52.Penn-Roosevelt State Park is the site of a former segregated CCC camp
for African American men.