I live in "Victorian Bellefonte", a one-time industrial town that has long since lost most of its heavy industry and, accordingly, is gentrifying as much as humanly possible. It's a quiet little town with more than its share of history. I live across a parking lot from Centre County's only operational crematorium, and I often fall asleep to some departed soul's last roaring demolition. Perhaps it has something to do with the rather gloomy tone of my recent poetry. I'll include a photo at right when I can get it from my friend, Ben.

Victorian Bellefonte
Bellefonte was founded in 1796. It was named by a particularly Machiavellian French diplomat named Tallyrand; the name refers to the mammoth spring (French for "good spring", I believe) that gushes forth next to Water Street. The locals refer to it as the Big Spring.

Bellefonte was an industrial center in the Central Pennsylvania region throughout the 19th century. As such, it also became a political center of some power. Bellefonte claims to have produced seven US governors, including five Pennsylvania governors. The only one you're likely to have heard of is Andrew Curtin, who was Pennsylvania's governor during the Civil War. Curtin was a significant player in the politics of the Civil War, and along with Morton of Indiana, was one of the strongest political allies of the Lincoln administration.

Bellefonte is nestled at the mouth of a water gorge, where Spring Creek cuts through Bald Eagle Mountain in the general direction of the town of Milesburg and towards it's eventual conjunction with the West Branch of the Susquehanna River. It's a lovely site, Bellefonte, with a dramatic view of the steep sides of Bald Eagle Mountain rising on either side of the gorge.