Welcome to Hearts in the Highlands! Thank you for visiting.
Hearts in the Highlands is a feature of the Highlands Civic Association Website dedicated to publishing stories about all the amazing facets that make up the Highlands: its history, its people (past and present), its architecture, its religious and cultural institutions, its schools, and its businesses. We hope you will enjoy reading the articles that we post and will return to read other pieces.
We plan to publish new articles as they become available, so sign up for the Highlands Civic Association’s email group when new articles are posted. If you have any suggestions for articles that you would like to see as part of Hearts in the Highlands, please do not hesitate to contact any one on the Editorial Board (below).
Editorial Board: Cathleen Cahill (cdcahill@gmail.com), Anne Cornell (Anne.Cornell@gmail.com), Peg Hambrick (peg.hambrick@gmail.com), Mary McGuire (maryshaymcguire@gmail.com), Josh Portney (joshportney1@gmail.com), Sandy Stelts (sks5@psu.edu), Eric White (erw2@psu.edu)
Opinions expressed in these essays are those of the authors.
- Alpha Phi at Penn State: A Home in the HighlandsBy Kiera Cannon While walking down Fraternity Row in State College, the Alpha Phi house stands as a familiar part of the Highlands neighborhood. For many residents, the large homes … Continued
- Searching for a Highlands ConnectionDoes architect Gregory Ain have a connection to the Highlands?
- Charles Schlow’s Library LegacyWhy is our library named after this State College businessman?
- John HamiltonThis is a reprint from the Centre County Historical Society Encyclopedia. By William Blair John Hamilton was one of the most influential leaders in the early history of Penn State … Continued
- Holiday Recipes from your Highland NeighborsChocolate Pepper Cookies — From Margaret Sebastianelli, adapted from a Martha Stewart recipe Peanut Blossoms — From the Kitchen of Helen Kearney Peppermint Mocha Cookies — Adapted From Sally’s Baking … Continued
- A Ramble Through the Highlands: Part TwoBy Katherine Joyce Photos by Bethany Haag A few months ago, back in May, I embarked on creating a bit of a travel piece: to follow the Highlands historic neighborhood … Continued
- CamelotThis is a reprint from the Centre County Historical Society Encyclopedia. By Anna Ludwig Camelot is a whimsical, fairytale-like home in State College that is on the National Register of … Continued
- A Ramble Through the Highlands: Part OneBy Katherine Joyce Photos by Bethany Haag I am a native Pennsylvanian, but I’m writing this article from northern Kentucky, where I’ve taken an internship for the summer. Just approaching … Continued
- The Delta Program – An Alternative Education in State College: A HistoryPart II By Zachariah Hamer-Lang Delta’s Time in the Fairmount Building From 1981 to 2019 the Delta Program was located in the historic Fairmount Building located on 411 South Fraser … Continued
- The Delta Program – An Alternative Education in State College: A HistoryPart I By Zachariah Hamer-Lang After moving to State College in 2019, I began my senior year of high school during the fall of 2021. I left the entirely online … Continued
- Stevenson Whitcomb Fletcher: A Legacy of Agricultural LeadershipBy Artificial Intelligence (ChatGPT)*** ***: So far, all of the authors for the Hearts in the Highlands articles you have read are real people. This time we are trying something … Continued
- Jacqueline Rogers and the Making of a Francophile CommunityBy Rebecca E. Rogers Jacqueline Rogers (maiden name Ragner) arrived in State College with Thomas Hunton Rogers in 1961 when the University hired my father to teach fiction writing in … Continued
- 406 South Pugh Street: From Fraternity House to Non-Profit Mental Health Resource CenterBy Adrienne Ott On Monday, October 7, 2024, the State College Borough Council approved a $1.5 million construction loan for the State College Borough Redevelopment Authority’s adaptive reuse project of … Continued
- New Little Library on East HamiltonBy Star Campbell When you are out in the neighborhood, check out the new little library at 617 East Hamilton Avenue, in front of the First Church of Christ, Scientist … Continued
- Honoring 100-plus Homes in the HighlandsBy Peg Hambrick Hearts in the Highlands is ending the year with a look backward. Because the Highlands neighborhood experienced a residential building “heyday” coinciding with the development of Penn … Continued
- Behind the Street Names: How They Tell the Story of the Growth of the HighlandsBy Shane McGinness The Highlands is one of the several neighborhoods in the municipality of State College. It is also a very large neighborhood. How large? There are approximately 60 … Continued
- Sergei Utechin: A Global HighlanderBy Anastasiia Popova Sergei Vasil’evich Utechin, a historian of Russian history at Penn State, resided in Highlands from 1971 to 1976, and that was probably the quietest part of his … Continued
- Art Imitates Life in the HighlandsBy Ann Pangborn As an artist living in The Highlands neighborhood for almost forty years, I find inspiration everywhere, every single day. I am primarily a fiber artist, using wool and … Continued
- A Portrait of a Pennsylvania Artist: Stuart H. FrostBy Katherine Joyce Stuart H. Frost was a quintessentially Pennsylvanian muralist who left quiet traces of his genius behind him. He traveled the world, spreading his art to places as … Continued
- Memorial FieldHere is a repost about Memorial Field from the Centre County Historical Society Encyclopedia. By Ronald A. Smith Memorial Field is the historic home of State College Area High School … Continued
- The Highlands and the Manhattan ProjectBy Carol White and Linda White We have always been interested in the Manhattan Project, as our family was almost involved with it. We’d like to share the family story … Continued
- Neighbor to Neighbor Benefits All Highlands ResidentsBy Dina Liberatore The Highlands community is composed of such a diverse array of people – young and old; students, faculty/staff and retired persons; people who own homes and people … Continued
- Voting in the Highlands: Election 2023 and BeyondBy Rick Gilmore All of us shape the future through our actions large and small. One way to shape the future of public policy is to vote. This article provides … Continued
- ‘When Passion and Purpose Converge’: Good Day Cafe Celebrates 5 YearsNote: This article was originally published by StateCollege.com and is reprinted with their permission. Hearts in the Highlands is pleased that the Good Day Cafe in Hamilton Square is part … Continued
- A Forever Home in the Highlandsby Lorie Waters When my husband and I moved back to State College in 2014, we figured it would just be for a couple of years while he established his … Continued
- Highlands Pet ParadeCelebrating Hearts in the Highlands’ 6th anniversary…let the pets eat cake!
- The Home to the Schlow Centre Region LibraryOur Highlands neighborhood, by virtue of its Beaver Avenue boundary on its north side, enjoys the distinction of being the home to the Schlow Centre Region Library. Here is a … Continued
- Welcome to the New East Fairmount Park: The Park Our Community Builtby Eric R. White History On December 10, 1925, J. W. and Anne T. H. Henszey sold a plot of land to be used as open space and for park, … Continued
- Having a Neighborhood Picnic/Street Party in the Borough of State Collegeby Clare Hinrichs and Mark Bergstrom We moved to the East Highlands neighborhood close to 18 years ago and were immediately charmed that our neighbors had a late summer neighborhood … Continued
- Fond Memories of a Neighborhood Playgroundby Linda White Growing up on East Foster Avenue in the early 1960’s, I had the good fortune to be able to spend my days at Fairmount Avenue Playground, as it … Continued
- Highlands Church Celebrates Centennialby Ellen Nagy Hello, Highlands Neighbors. There is a Centennial Celebration going on in the Highlands neighborhood this year! One of your neighbors—the University Baptist and Brethren Church (UBBC) —is … Continued
- Life in the Highlands: You Ought to Be in Picturesproduced by Mark, Valerie, and Maxwell Katsouros In 2021, Highlanders shared photos of the Highlands neighborhood throughout the four seasons. Our neighbors, Mark, Valerie, and Maxwell Katsouros generously donated their … Continued
- What Came Before the Highlands?by Ishaan Anavkar The Highlands District of State College today has a rich history of growth and immigration, but being one of the oldest in the town, one wonders how … Continued
- A Life Well Livedby David Saggio Ted Sebastianelli was born in Scranton Pennsylvania in 1947, a second-generation Italian-American. His parents were Edward T. and Marion Sebastianelli. Ted’s immigrant grandfather and uncles were hard … Continued
- Living in the Highlands as Young Professionalsby Kim and James Tierney Late 2018 we told our real estate agent we were interested in buying a house closer to downtown. In fact, we gave the instructions of … Continued
- Aging in Place: The Highlandsby Eric R. White It was 1976. My wife and I were house hunting. Our demands were minimal. She wanted a house with a fireplace; I wanted a house clad … Continued
- Sidney Friedman Park: A Small Park With a Big Historyby Alexandra Rogers Introduction Once a resident of the Highlands, I remember my trips to Sidney Friedman Park. Bordered by the United States Post Office and Memorial Field on South … Continued
- 127 Years of Filling Needsby Susan Shank Shincovich Of the wide variety of entities that call the Highlands neighborhood home—including hundreds of single family homes, six houses of worship, two borough parks, apartment buildings … Continued
- The Highlands Meets the PSU Gridironby Nate Bauer What’s past, of course, is prologue: After graduating from Penn State in August 2005, I had planned to leave my apartment at 110 E. Hamilton Ave. in … Continued
- Native Plants in the Highlandsby Terry Melton In 1981, the little Cape Cod house we bought on East Irvin Avenue had 50 ornamental rose bushes, a new gardening challenge for me, and one that was … Continued