This Centre County township near State College is a foodie paradise and history lover’s dream
Harris Township at a glance
Population: 5,904 (as of July 1, 2023 and based on an estimate from the U.S. Census Bureau)
Landmarks: Columbus Chapel & Boal Mansion Museum, Boalsburg Heritage Museum, Pennsylvania Military Museum, Duffy’s Tavern, Boalsburg Cemetery (birthplace of Memorial Day)
Where to eat: Everywhere (see below)
What else to do there: Hiking, indoor rock climbing, golfing, skiing, picnicking, walking tours
More info: harristownship.org
Harris Township occupies more than 31 square miles — the size of more than a half-dozen State College Boroughs — but a majority of its land lies within state parks. Most residents live in Boalsburg, while about 3 in 10 residents live outside Boalsburg’s borders.
And it’s difficult to find communities as fiercely committed to local history and village identity as Boalsburg.
You won’t find a McDonald’s or big-box store in the community often described as friendly and quiet. The village, about 5 miles southeast of Penn State’s campus, has remained protective of its history.
“The sense of community is really, really strong here,” added Nigel Wilson, chair of Harris Township’s board of supervisors and a resident there for more than 30 years.
When the Boal family sold part of its land to be turned into a development, a grassroots fundraising group convinced the developers to sell to them so they could turn it into a park instead. And when a utility company wanted to put an unsightly substation in the municipality, the objection was so strong and immediate that it agreed to sell the land and look elsewhere.
History is everywhere in Boalsburg. For more than 200 years, the “diamond” in the market square has survived as a remnant from the town planning of Scottish-Irish immigrants. (One Philadelphia blogger called it the “most perfect surviving example of a Scotch-Irish diamond.”) In the 1800s, the local tavern was used as a stop along the main route between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. In the 2020s, visitors still stop to see that same tavern — and the small businesses around the diamond — just via car and bicycle instead of carriage.
A foodie paradise?
Boalsburg may be a small town with a population of just under 4,500 — but it’s home to several food/drink spots that belong on every Centre County “Best of” list.
The area’s best wings? Duffy’s Tavern, built in 1819, can stake a strong claim. The restaurant won several championships at Tussey Mountain’s WingFest, and it’s often mentioned among the county’s best.
Best pizza? No trustworthy list should exclude Angelo’s Pizzeria. Happy Valley Adventure Bureau picked the shop’s Buffalo Chicken Pizza as its favorite among seven competitors that included county favorites Hofbrau and Faccia Luna.
Best brewery? Good luck finding a close parking spot at Boal City Brewing, which always attracts a large crowd eager to try a rotating cast of its own beers. The brewery was named CDT readers’ favorite new place to eat or drink in 2023.
Best brunch spot? Let’s not forget Breakfast on Boal, which shares property with Angelo’s, after it was named CDT readers’ favorite brunch spot last year.
And that only covers a handful of the impressive listings here. Pump Station Cafe is home to more than a few residents’ favorite breakfast sandwiches, while Kelly’s Steak & Seafood remains a popular spot that can trace its roots to the 1940s. The Boalsburg Farmers Market, held from 2-6 p.m. every Tuesday, also boasts nearly 40 producer-only vendors.
Outside of Boalsburg, and within the confines of Harris Township, there’s even more to try.
University Wine Company offers weekly live music and food trucks. Mount Nittany Vineyard & Winery might be the county’s most decorated, as it was the only winery within 50 miles to earn a gold medal in last August’s Atlantic Seaboard Wine Competition. Mountain View Country Club boasts a breathtaking view at its restaurant, Tussey Mountain has its own beer garden, and both Wasson Farm Market and Tait Farm Foods offer a large selection of homemade items.
All of those spaces offer a cozy, mom-and-pop atmosphere that reflects the community. Even the business that attracts the most customers, Boal City Brewing, possesses deep roots. Brewmaster Mike Smith grew up in the area and his family has held season tickets for Penn State football for nearly four decades. He previously brewed beer at The Gamble Mill and worked as the head distiller at Barrel 21.
Longtime residents like Wilson, who bought his house around 1990, are big fans of the new space.
“I like the fact we have our own brewpub,” Wilson said. “That’s a really classic thing, and it’s turned out to be really good. And the restaurants we have are very good.”
‘Historic Boalsburg’
The village that was first scouted for European settlement in 1764 is bursting at the seams with history.
In a way, the village that was settled shortly after the Revolutionary War is a landmark unto itself. Much of the architecture reflects a Georgian- and Victorian-style design from being constructed throughout much of the 1800s, and three separate Boalsburg walking tours direct visitors to more than 50 combined stops.
Among the highlights:
Duffy’s Tavern: Forget the chicken wings (yes, even the Thai maple ones); this is worth a visit just for its past. This upscale tavern was built in 1819 with walls that are nearly two feet thick from local local limestone and masonry work — construction that helped save the tavern from being destroyed by a 1934 fire. A lot here remains original, including the front door and box lock. According to the online walking tour guide, the initials of the original owners (James Johnston and Hanna Bethesda) are also still carved into a stone on the front of the building, between two upper windows.
Boal Mansion (Museum): Boalsburg founder David Boal was obviously among the first to live in the village — it was known as “Springfield” until about 1820 — after building a stone cabin in 1803. That original cabin remains part of Boal Mansion, which is the oldest surviving building in the village and now doubles as a museum.
Columbus Chapel: You probably wouldn’t expect what a PBS documentary called the “closest link to Columbus in the nation” to be located in central Pennsylvania. But thank the Boal family for this one again. Around the turn of the 20th century, a fourth-generation Boal married a descendant of Christopher Columbus who inherited the Columbus Chapel, which was part of the Columbus Castle in Spain. The Boals imported the interior of the chapel to Boalsburg in 1909, and it’s stood there ever since. Granted, the chapel isn’t filled strictly with artifacts from Christopher Columbus but also from his descendants. Still, the family claims an admiral’s desk there belonged to Christopher Columbus, and the chapel includes 15th-century religious statues and 16th-century Renaissance paintings. This is part of the Boal Estate, which is also home to the Boal Mansion.
Boalsburg Cemetery: Is this spot, where Civil War soldiers and seven Revolutionary War soldiers are buried, really the birthplace of Memorial Day? A bronze statue of three women here makes that argument, explaining they decorated the graves of two loved ones in 1864, made a pact to do the same the next year, and soon the pact involved the entire community and every soldier’s grave. More than two dozen towns in the U.S. make similar claims, and Congress recognized Waterloo, New York, as the official birthplace in 1966. Regardless, this spot is still worth a stop. The cemetery is located between two historic churches: Zion Lutheran Church, dedicated in 1827, was torn down and rebuilt in 1868 while St. John’s United Church of Christ was dedicated in 1862.
Boalsburg Heritage Museum: Six years after James Johnston opened the 1819 tavern, William Murray built the home that has now housed the heritage museum for the last 40 years. A climate-controlled archive preserves paperwork, photographs and other artifacts that tell the local history. The first floor also includes Victorian furnishings and musical instruments, while the second floor contains a school room and country store — in addition to bedrooms and a Civil War exhibit.
The small village of Boalsburg boasts three unique museums, two of which we’ve already covered. The Boal Mansion Museum is privately run by the Boal family, the Boalsburg Heritage Museum is operated by the township, and the state is charged with overlooking the Pennsylvania Military Museum.
The military museum, which opened in 1969, contains more than 10,000 artifacts that the museum’s website says range in size from “tea cups to tanks.” It’s the only place in Centre County you can spot a World War I howitzer, Sherman tank and pair of battleship guns — and that’s before even stepping inside.
There’s more history to explore in Boalsburg. But not everyone’s a history lover. In that case, Harris Township still has you covered ...
What else to do in Harris Township
Whether you’re an avid outdoorsman or avoid the outdoors more than a house cat, Harris Township has something for you.
Tussey Mountain serves as a community ski resort in the winter, and it hosts a number of key events over the summer — such as WingFest and the new Happy Valley Music Series. It also has a skate park, go-karts, batting cages, mini golf and a Par 3 golf course.
But if you’re looking for more serious golf, Mountain View Country Club — which, despite the name, is public — lies just a mile north of Tussey. Hole No. 12, which starts by overlooking the valley, is many a Centre County golfer’s favorite and finishes near a challenging water hazard with a scenic bridge and fountain.
If golf isn’t your speed, maybe disc golf — i.e. Frisbee golf — might be more agreeable. The free-to-play 18-hole Harvest Fields Disc Golf Course is just south of Mountain View and boasts a 4.6 rating (out of 5) by more than 950 critics at UDisc.com.
The course is mixed use, meaning you might need to wait for hikers to pass before tossing a Frisbee. But, with most of Harris Township’s land comprised of Rothrock State Forest, there are plenty of other hiking trails to explore. After all, the state forest contains nearly 300 miles of those trails.
In addition to local trails, Rothrock State Forest contains the Mid State Trail, a 326-mile trail from Maryland’s Green Ridge State Forest to New York’s Finger Lakes trail, and the Standing Stone Trail, a 70+-mile trail that connects Tuscarora Trail at Cowans Gap State Park with the Mid State Trail at Greenwood Furnace State Park.
And if you’d prefer to experience nature without hiking, you can always visit one of Harris Township’s eight municipal parks or the regional park (Hess Softball Complex).
Lastly, for those who like to keep their exercise indoors, Climb Nittany is a climbing gym that opened in 2020 and attracts customers from more than an hour away. Their walls mimic rock climbing, and the gym also offers climbing classes. And for those who appreciate the arts more than the outdoors, the Nittany Theatre at the Barn — also known as Boal Barn Playhouse — has its next show, “Footloose,” scheduled for July 11-14.
