Cultural Organizations  -  Museums and Visitor Center   
Historic Districts and Sites -  Libraries

In Huntingdon you can have the scenic beauty, low cost of living, and community spirit of a rural area without sacrificing cultural pursuits. Opportunities for participants and spectators abound in the performing arts and in visual arts. In addition to local cultural opportunities, Huntingdon residents benefit greatly from close proximity to Altoona and State College.

Juniata College sponsors many of the county's cultural functions. Each academic year, the college hosts theatrical productions, guest lecturers, dance troupes, art exhibits, recitals, choral and instrumental concerts, and an international film series. The college encourages the community to attend these events, for which there is seldom an admission fee. The Juniata College Museum of Art houses a significant permanent collection that includes important works from the Hudson River School, American Portrait miniatures, as well as Old Master paintings and prints. In addition to the permanent collection, the museum hosts regional, national, and international exhibitions.

Penn State University, located a little over 30 miles from Huntingdon, offers an extensive, year-round selection of lectures, concerts, theatrical programs, and art exhibits. Both Juniata and Penn State host performers and lecturers of national and international renown. Penn State’s Bryce Jordon Center, which seats 16,000 , frequently hosts nationally known performers and sporting events. Beaver Stadium is home to the Penn State Nittany Lions football team.Each summer, the Huntingdon County Arts Council and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers co-sponsor an extensive performing artists series. Programs are held outdoors at the Seven Points Amphitheater at Raystown Lake, where the audience watches from lawn chairs and blankets. Among recent performers were a Native American dancer, a square dancing group, a boys choir, several community choirs and bands, and various musical groups performing folk, Broadway, big band, bluegrass and gospel. Offered in conjunction with the artist series are lectures by historians and naturalists.

Cultural Organizations

Numerous groups in Huntingdon County actively promote the arts by sponsoring cultural programs and providing local residents with opportunities to showcase their artistic talents.

The Huntingdon Country Arts Council is a membership supported organization that sponsors several cultural activities each year. These include the Huntingdon County Arts Festival, Spring Thaw Juried Art Show, Folk College, local artist fellowships, concerts and visits by artists to local schools.

Performing artists, art exhibits, and craft displays are often incorporated into local festivals, including Hartslog Day in Alexandria, Oktoberfest in Cassville, Canal Era Day in Mount Union, Fort Shirley Heritage Days in Shirleysburg, the Raystown Country Family Days and Horse Expo in Huntingdon, numerous community "homecomings," and the Huntingdon County Fair.Amateur singers and musicians can stay in practice through membership in any of the county's many community choruses and bands. Most of these groups schedule Christmas season or summertime concerts. The Playhouse at McConnellstown is the home stage of GoWest Productions, a non-profit, volunteer theater group. The Playhouse sponsors plays, dramatic readings, film series, and concerts during a season that usually runs from May to October.

Libraries

The Huntingdon County Library has its headquarters and main library in Huntingdon, and branch libraries in Mount Union and Orbisonia. Its collection caters to leisure and academic interests, and contains books, magazines, "talking" books, DVDs, CDs, and videotapes. All three sites have their own "friends" organizations, which sponsor fund-raisers, book reviews, and guest speakers.

The Memorial Public Library in Alexandria is a privately-endowed institution, not affiliated with the Huntingdon County Library. The Memorial Public Library is open weekdays and some evenings. Its collection includes books, magazines, "talking" books, and records. The library is open to the general public without charge.

Juniata College's Beeghly Library is open to the public, although there is a small fee for a non-student borrower's card. Juniata has an enormous collection of books and periodicals devoted primarily to research. The library also has the county's largest collection of old local newspapers—original copies and microfilms. The library is open year round. During the school year, the doors aren't locked until midnight.

If you can't find the information you need in Huntingdon County, you can probably find it at Penn State's mammoth Pattee Library. Non-students are welcome to use the collection, and the library's electronic catalog is available locally to anyone with a computer and internet access.

The Huntingdon County Historical Society operates a research library at the society's headquarters in Huntingdon. The society has a large collection of materials for the study of community and family histories.

Museums and Visitor Center

Huntingdon County is home to several specialty museums and a visitor center. The Huntingdon County Visitor Center is located at the Seven Points Recreation Area at Raystown Lake. The center, opened to the public in 1999, houses offices for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Raystown Lake ranger staff and the Huntingdon County Visitors Bureau. The multi-media exhibit area interprets both the history of Raystown Dam and the operation of this federal flood control facility. A gift shop offers high quality items which reflect Raystown Country.

The Isett Acres Museum is an educational and historical foundation to preserve and display items of interest from the past and present. It provides the experience of traveling through a hard working, slower paced era to the modern fast paced life of today. The museum features a collection of over 30,000 items.

The Swigart Museum, located along Route 22 east of Huntingdon, contains a private collection of antique automobiles, as well as displays of auto memorabilia and antique toys.

Two museums are located in former mining community of Robertsdale: the Coal Miner's Museum, located in the Reality Theater, and the Friends of the East Broad Top Railroad Museum, located in the former East Broad Top Railroad Depot. The former contains equipment, photographs and other remnants and reminders of the region's coal mining industry. The latter focuses on the history of the East Broad Top Railroad.

In Alexandria, the Harslog Heritage Museum'scollection contains relics from that area, which blossomed when the Pennsylvania Canal was routed through the borough. Rockhill is home to the Rockhill Trolley Museum, a large collection of trolley memorabilia and antique street cars, many still operating on the museum's own line.

Historic Districts and Sites

As you may have judged from the museums' themes, local history is a source of pride for area residents, and relics from the county's past are now being viewed as a economic asset. Many communities have recognized the architectural and historical significance of older buildings, and have undertaken projects to preserve, restore and promote those sites as tourist attractions. National Register Historic Districts have been identified in Huntingdon Borough and five other area communities. Walking tours of these historic districts are also available.

The East Broad Top Railroad is probably the region's premier historic attraction. The former coal-hauling railroad has been described by the National Park Service as "...the best remaining example in the nation of a regional narrow-gauge railroad system." "Old Easty" operates on weekends from June through October.Greenwood Furnace State Park offers the traditional outdoor activities that you'd expect to find in a park, but it also features exhibits and programs about the iron-making community that formerly occupied the park's grounds. Some iron-era structures, including one of two furnace stacks, still stand within the park.

A fascinating example of "living history" can be found in Big Valley in neighboring Mifflin County, where members of several Amish sects still live much the same as their ancestors did generations ago.