ABCs of Centre County

Madisonburg (Miles) – In the 1770s and 1780s Colonel Samuel Miles, a Philadelphia land speculator, acquired substantial land holdings in Brush Valley and laid out a road that became a major transportation route for travelers and local families. Madisonburg, named to honor James Madison, became an agricultural center along the new road and at the intersection of another road leading into Little Nittany Valley. A stone house built in 1833 by Simon Pickle at this intersection served as a post office, general store, and tavern to accommodate travelers.

Marengo (Ferguson) – Once an important station on the Pennsylvania Railroad's Fairbrook Branch between Scotia and Tyrone, little remains of the village of Marengo.

Martha/Martha Furnace (Huston) – In 1830 a charcoal iron furnace was built by Roland Curtin for his son James, and named after his daughter Martha. James Curtin built a large brick home called the Martha Furnace Mansion The furnace employed fifty or more men. However, because of the expense of hauling distant ore and sending pig iron to the forge at Curtin, the manufacture of iron at Martha was not a profitable undertaking to the Curtins. In 1848 the Curtins abandoned the furnace and eventually sold it to Moses Thompson & Co., who put it in blast and operated it until 1855. Martha later became a stop on the Bald Eagle Valley Railroad.

Milesburg Borough – Located at the junction of Bald Eagle and Spring Creeks, Milesburg was founded in 1793 by Colonel Samuel Miles, a Revolutionary War officer, land speculator, early mayor of Philadelphia, and part owner of Centre Furnace Iron Works. In 1795 Miles put the Milesburg Forge into operation in order to forge Centre Furnace pig iron into a transportable and marketable form. Iron products were at first precariously floated on arks from Milesburg down the Bald Eagle Creek to the West Branch of the Susquehanna. By 1846 a canal system linking Bellefonte with Lock Haven was completed. This new system provided a safe and cheap means of transporting iron to Baltimore and other eastern markets. Later the Bellefonte Central and the Bald Eagle Valley Railroad passed through Milesburg on their way to and from Bellefonte.

Millbrook (College) – About a mile east of State College, Millbrook was the location of the Centre Furnace mill.

Millheim Borough – During the 1770s Jacob Hubler built a gristmill and sawmill along the banks of Elk Creek. These operations were the first of many to flourish in Millheim, the Town of Mills. Being located at the junction of four roads, one out of Brush Valley, one from Union County, one from Mifflin County, and the other from the west, further enhanced the importance of the town. By the 1870s Millheim had become the industrial, commercial, and residential center of Penns Valley. Thirteen mercantile establishments and twelve major industries including new mills, two foundry and machine shops, two tanneries, a cement/lime kiln, and a chair factory provided commerce. Two large hotels were added (one of them at the site of the current Millheim hotel), and the Lewisburg, Centre and Spruce Creek Railroad connected Millheim to the area and beyond. A large hosiery mill and a silk mill continued into the 20th century.

Mingoville (Walker) – Mingoville, located at the mouth of the gap that was named for Mingo Indian Chief Logan and on one of the earliest county roads to pass through to Penns Valley, served as the post office for Hecla and Hecla Furnace.

Monument (Liberty) – Judge Ellis L. Orvis, of Bellefonte, founded Monument in 1903 after discovering nearby clay deposits suitable for making brick. Monument was named for "Monument Rock," a huge rock in the middle of Beech Creek said to have been an Indian landmark. Judge Orvis sold his interest to the Harbison Walker Refractories of Pittsburgh, and for fifty years the community prospered. During its busy years, up to 200 laborers were employed by Harbison Walker as Monument grew to be the second largest community in Liberty Township. As the clay deposits became more difficult to mine, the brick operation shifted away from Monument. In 1953 the operation moved to Ohio and the local plant closed.

Moshannon (Snow Shoe) – Originally called Moshannon Mills, settlement in its early years focused on the many mills that dotted the area. According to local stories, an Indian trail passed through town, with trees bearing Indian picture writings. Later the town of Moshannon, on Black Moshannon Creek, was developed for its lumber reserve. James Gilliland and Henry Van Dyke laid out Moshannon in 1849 on land purchased from the Graetz family of Philadelphia. This community once had a sawmill, gristmill, tannery, store, and even a foundry and a match-stick factory.

Mount Eagle (Howard) – J. B. Leathers of Howard Township created a pottery business in Mount Eagle before the days of Sayers Dam. The crocks he manufactured over the years have become among the most sought-after antiques made by Centre County craftsmen.