Centre Hall appeals to travelers with a range of interests: its streetscape is defined by five-bay Georgian-style homes, the Grange Fair takes place in summer, and Penn’s Prairie combines recreation with wildlife protection. Nearby, Rhoneymeade adds trails through farmland, woods, gardens, and meadows to the mix. When planning your visit, it’s worth deciding first whether architecture, the fair, or the landscape will be your main focus.
Historic Architecture on the Streetscape
The streets of Centre Hall are lined with five-bay Georgian-style homes. Many feature additions, center gables, decorative porches and brackets, as well as other early Victorian details. “Five-bay” describes a façade divided into five bays; this makes it possible to distinguish the basic form from the additional design elements. The streetscape thus combines a recurring house type with specific façade details, rather than relying on a single style label.
Another architectural point of interest is the Progress Grange in Centre Hall. It was designed by architect Robert Cole of Bellefonte. This brings two distinct points of reference together: the homes that define the streetscape and a single building with a specifically attributed architect. If façade styles are your main interest, the homes offer a broader point of reference; if you’re looking for a specific architect attribution, the Progress Grange is a clear point of reference.
The Grange Fair as a Summer Event
The Centre County Grange Encampment and Fair, commonly known as the Grange Fair, takes place every summer at Grange Park in Centre Hall. It is the last remaining tenting fair in the United States. The fair is therefore a recurring summer event with a distinctive national distinction. If the event is the reason for your trip, check the specific dates for your chosen year before settling on travel dates and accommodation.
Penn’s Prairie and Rhoneymeade
Penn’s Prairie is a multi-use park that brings together recreation, wildlife protection, and the restoration and preservation of a historic prairie. These functions are all part of the park’s character: recreation sits alongside nature and landscape conservation.
Near Centre Hall, Rhoneymeade offers trails through farmland, woods, gardens, and meadows, as well as an arboretum and a sculpture garden. Compared with Penn’s Prairie, the focus here is on a variety of landscape settings and designed spaces; Penn’s Prairie, by contrast, combines park and recreational functions with wildlife protection and the care of a historic prairie. This difference can help you narrow down the landscape experience you’re looking for, rather than treating both places broadly as the same kind of nature destination.
Discover more destinations: Spring Mills, Pine Grove Mills, Pine Glen, State College, Bellefonte, Port Matilda.
Go to the overview of the wider region: Centre.
