Native Americans flourished in the early history of Centre County.  However, there came a time when Indian trails were compressed and broadened by the scurry of moccasined feet and the rumble of wagon wheels, a time of stagecoaches, of corduroyed roads that often disappeared into muddy wastes, of busy settlements of warm and friendly taverns, of gentlemen and drovers and stage coach drivers.   The quaint and quiet village of Springfield (that would become Boalsburg) still maintains the essence of just such a busy settlement in the 1800s.         

Enjoy reading From the outside Looking in: OLDE BOALSBURG – A MICROCOSM while you walk beneath the Main Street canopy of trees to observe the remaining commercial-residential structures that can best be used to construct a microcosm of early Boalsburg, a village erected to service the growing road network as well as the needs of the community.  Vintage photographs will guide you down the tree-lined pathway, from east to west, to stand outside the homes of the villagers and look into the lives of those who created Boalsburg; to imagine how villagers lived and how the homes were modified over time --changed by emerging styles of architecture.   Experience a microcosm of how the town was built and how, over time, technological and industrial development transformed life.