Sugar Grove School, Clinton County

 

According to the Sugar Valley Historical Society Website:

"In 1997, the Sugar Grove School, also known as the Bull Run School, located at 1756 Bull Run Road, was sold to the Sugar Valley Historical Society by the Keystone Central School District for $1.00 and the new deed was recorded."

1936

"Built in 1899, along the so-called Livonia Road [Route 477]"

In 1965 the school was a residence, and it was damaged by fire.

The school operated from 1899 to 1955, formerly owned by the Keystone Central School District.

The inside of the school was completely restored when the historical society took over the building.

The Historical Society is located right next to the school.

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Logan's Mill, Clinton County Pa

Logan Mills Gristmill, in Logan Twp Clinton County PA,  is located right beside the aptly named Logan's Mill Covered Bridge, the only remaining covered bridge in Clinton County.  

During the latter part of the 19th Century, Logan Mills also had the nearby  general store, post office and a one room schoolhouse. With no school in the vicinity, Anthony Kleckner built a schoolhouse on his property. Today, the covered bridge and the mill building remain.

Colonel Anthony Kleckner, who founded the community named it after Chief Logan. When Colonel Kleckner died in 1860, the mill was purchased by the Ilgen family who operated it  into the mid-1950s. The gristmill was then operated by a number of owners, closing in the 1960s.

A description of the mill from the application to place it on the National Register of Historic Places:

"The gristmill at Logan Mills is a three and one half story coursed stone structure with a tin covered gable roof. Located on the banks of Fishing Creek, it drew it s power from water diverted by a race from the creek through the basement of the mill . 

Two turbine wheels were run from water power used to operate the milling machinery. The mill itself s three bays by four bays. Windows on the second story are 6 over 6, those on the third story 8 over 12. Three level loading doors are located in the east gable end. Loading of grain was achieved the use of a pulley located i n the gable end over the third floor doorway. 

A one story stone addition is located on the north elevation . The mill is in excellent condition and most of it s original machinery; turbines, chutes, gears, belts and hoppers are still in place. "

Col. Anthony Kelckner was born July 5th 1793 in Union County Pa, the son of John & Anna Barbara [Koch] Kleckner.  He married Sarah Munich, and they had a large family of 9 or more children.  Col. Klecker died on September 1 1860, aged 67, and is buried at St Paul's Evangelical Church in Loganton.

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Where The Mills Once Stood - An Index

https://susquehannavalley.blogspot.com/2020/03/where-mills-once-stood.html

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Loganton Borough

[Mention of the White Deer and Loganton Railroad]

Annie M. Snyder, the Artist From Clinton County PA

Local Artist Annie M. Snyder, from Salona (near Mill Hall) struggled to make a living from art all her life and, at one point, was peddling raffle tickets for her paintings door to door. 

 In 2007, her painting, Still Life Of Fruit And Nuts On A Table,sold for $5,850 at auction. 

Personally, I prefer this one, which sold for just $250

Annie Snyder was born in Salona, Pennsylvania (near Mill Hall), in 1852. She was self taught until studying in Philadelphia under the German instructor Emil Kett. She returned to Salona and eventually moved to Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, where she had a home studio and taught at Lock Haven University. 

She is most known for her small farm scenes especially ones including cows, or for her photographic-like still paintings of fruit

On Special Display at the Taber Museum, august 2026 - this is thought, but not proven to be, by Snyder.

In 2014 The Lock Haven Express ran an article about a painting by Annie M. Snyder going up for auction in Lamar.  I believe, although I am not certain, it referred to the work shown above.

"This painting, however, is large and the subject matter is a deer scene said to have been painted in Haneyville. Another story places the scene in Tylersville along Fishing Creek. Either way, the signed and dated 1900 painting is a stellar work of art."

Elizabethan Lovers

By Annie M. Snyder

The Lewisburg Chronicle

August 18 1876

Portrait Of A Woman 

By Annie M. Snyder

The Lock Haven Express

March 1962  - Referencing an 1892 article

The painting referred to above, "Bougeuereau Nymphs and Satyr,”, was restored by the Poorman foundation in 2014, with plans for it to be hung in the lobby of the Elks Building.

"After repairs, the Anne Snyder work will be donated back to the lodge for display in the refurbished lobby, accompanied by a brass plaque highlighting the importance of the artist to the community. Snyder’s art, Poorman said, is considered rare and there are only a few remaining pieces in Clinton County." - Article in the 2014 Lock Haven Express.

Annie M. Snyder died from cancer in 1927.

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Chinese Statue In Lock Haven

This beautiful statue stands outside of the Ross Library in Lock Haven.

The sign beside it leads me to believe there may be more to see inside, but unfortunately, we never seem to be in town when the library is open. I will need to make a special trip one of these days.

The sign beside the statue reads:

"Our Chinese statues are from the 16th century, including the Ming (1368-1644) dynasty and Ruler Chu Yuan-chang (1368-1398) are are often considered the finest of Chinese ceramics" - Collection donated by the Poorman Family.

There's an entire museum in the library, but the Poorman statues are not listed in the description - 

"The Edythe Hoy Bossert Gallery is available to the public for exhibits by individuals, businesses, community organizations, etc."  Details can be found here:

http://www.rosslibrary.org/Annie_Halenbake_Ross_Library/node/10

Located on the 2nd floor of the old mansion of the Ross Library is the John Sloan Museum.

"Born in Lock Haven on August 2, 1871, John French Sloan grew up to become a world-class famous American painter and etcher who visited the area on occasion to participate in university and civic events. At age five, John Sloan went to visit the Centennial Exposition of 1876 in Philadelphia. His family moved to Philadelphia shortly thereafter. He said he became an artist by chance. At age 16 he left school to begin working full-time to help support his family. He worked in a bookstore and began to seriously study art. Following the instructions of an etcher's handbook, he taught himself to become one of the best etchers in the United States. His skills led him to a job as an artist for the Philadelphia newspapers."

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https://susquehannavalley.blogspot.com/2019/04/sights-to-see.html

The Adena Find In Loganton PA

Archaeologist Tank Baird, discussing the Adena finds in Loganton PA

"I will probably never excavate artifacts in Egypt or Rome, but we have items just as old right under out feet here in PA." said Tank Baird, at his talk on the recent Native American finds in Loganton PA.

And sometimes no excavation is needed to find them.  In Tank's talk yesterday, he mentioned watching a groundhog dig a hole, and in the newly dug up ground he found a 5,000 year old arrowhead, laying right on top. 

 But the discovery that is the talk of our area right now was found years ago by a boy and his grandfather, and stored in a cigar box.    Years later, that boy, now grown,  brought the finds to Tank Baird to be displayed - having no idea what a significant discovery he had been holding on to all of these years.

The Criel Mound, in West Virginia

At one time the Adena mound sites numbered up to 200, but only a small number of them remain today. Some of these include the Criel and Grave Creek Mounds in West Virginia, and the Adena, Biggs, Enon, Miamisburg, and Wolf Plains Mounds in Ohio.

In maps of the "mound builders" sites -  the Hopewell and Adena cultures - there is a large blank spot on the map, comprised of most of Pennsylvania. There is no sign of them along the Susquehanna River, that area appears to have been off limits to them.    Although there are many sites found around the Chesapeake Bay area, and throughout Ohio & West VIrginia, there was no real evidence of Adena culture throughout most of the middle of Pennsylvania.  

 Or there was evidence, but it was sitting in a cigar box, waiting to be identified.  Once Tank saw the artifacts, immediately recognizing them as Adena, he was able to explore the area where they had been found all of those years ago.  The land is private property, and until the land owners make decisions on how to proceed, the location is not being disclosed.  It is near Fishing Creek, and it is a "significant find".  

An Adena Pipe, discovered in a mound in Ohio.

 The Adena culture was a Pre-Columbian Native American culture that existed from 1000 to 200 BC, in a time known as the Early Woodland period. It  was a conglomerate of  Indian communities that inhabited the Central and Southern regions of Ohio, West Virginia, and Delaware.    They shared a burial system known as mounds, many of which still exist today.  

In the mounds that have been excavated, the size of the bodies found buried in the mounds indicate that these people were uncommonly large. The bodies found were both men and women that were commonly over six feet tall with powerful builds. 

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I first met Tank Baird on a bus tour of the Nippenose Valley- where we were able to visit the Wii-Daagh (Capitol Column) Memorial.  

There's a video of Tank talking about that memorial, here:

https://susquehannavalley.blogspot.com/2019/05/the-widaagh-monument-in-antes-fort.html

Additional Reading:

• North Central Chapter 8 Society For Pennyslvania Archaelogy 
• The Adena Culture
• Historic Indian Paths Of Pennsylvania By Paul Wallace