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1909 Map of Bellefonte

Name: 1909 Topographic Map of Bellefonte
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1914
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1914

About this map

Bellefonte and the emerging campus of Pennsylvania State College anchor this turn-of-the-century portrait of Centre County. The landscape is defined by the sharp parallel lines of Bald Eagle Ridge and Mount Nittany, which funnel settlement into the Nittany Valley. This era shows a complex network of industrial transport, with the Pennsylvania, Bellefonte Central, and Lewisburg and Tyrone railroads connecting iron-mining outposts like Scotia Benore PO to the regional hubs.

Rural life is densely documented through small post offices and schools, including Unionville Fleming PO, Snowshoe Intersection Wingate PO, and the Silverdale School. To the northwest, the Allegheny Front rises steeply, marked by the Snowshoe Mountains and a logging tramroad near Ganderstep Knob. The map captures a moment when the regional economy was transitioning from traditional agriculture and mining toward the institutional growth of the land-grant college at State College.