STATE COLLEGE – The Centre County Historical Society (CCHS) will host a history talk at 2 p.m. July 14 at the Centre Furnace Mansion, located at 1001 E. College Ave., in State College.
Speaker Bill Marcum will discuss the Civilian Conservation Corps and the history of the Poe Valley Camp S-63. Admission is free; donations are welcome.
Celebrating the 80th anniversary year of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) founding in 1933, guests will learn about its creation and the resulting construction of the Poe Valley State Park, 25-acre Poe Valley Lake and its 660-foot earthen dam.
This history talk will include a pictorial presentation of the camp from 1933-1941, reflecting the camp facilities and the enrollees’ activities. Names of regional enrollees, supervisors and notable individuals will be shared and memorabilia will be displayed.
Marcum, born and raised in Coburn, was first introduced to the works of the CCC through many stories told to him by his grandfather, who was the senior foreman in the Poe Valley CCC Camp S-63 Company 1333.
He started collecting Poe Valley CCC memorabilia after the passing of his grandfather. He subsequently learned his other grandfather helped erect CCC camps in Virginia, and his uncle was an enrollee in a CCC camp in Virginia.
The Centre County Historical Society is headquartered at the Centre Furnace Mansion. Event parking is available in the Mansion parking lot off Porter Road and on the lower lawn along College Avenue. For information about this program and other upcoming historical society events, please call 814-234-4779.