Welcome to the Jewish Central Pennsylvania History Project

The Jewish Central Pennsylvania History Project preserves the history of Jewish life in Central Pennsylvania towns through archival research and oral histories.

For nearly two centuries, Jewish communities have existed throughout Central Pennsylvania. During the latter half of the twentieth century, however, a majority of the region’s Jewish population left for opportunities elsewhere. In their wake, Central Pennsylvania’s Jewish communities were reduced to a handful of residents. While permanent Jewish landmarks, such as Jewish cemeteries, and some Jewish community members remain in the area, non-Jewish residents are largely unaware of the existence of once-vibrant Jewish communities in Central Pennsylvania.

With no formal documentation or oral histories in existence to preserve this history, Casey Sennett, a 2023 Penn State graduate, wrote her combined undergraduate honors and master’s thesis about the Jewish history of five Central Pennsylvania towns, Aaronsburg, Bellefonte, Philipsburg, and State College in Centre County and Lock Haven in Clinton County. The Jewish Central Pennsylvania History Project website was created to make the region’s Jewish history more accessible.

Map of the five Central Pennsylvania towns explored in the project.

Explore Central Pennsylvania’s Jewish History

The Jewish Central Pennsylvania History Projects includes research about Jewish cemeteries, congregations, and communities throughout the state of Pennsylvania. Learn about some of the museum’s recent research projects.

Aaronsburg

Aaronsburg, located in eastern Centre County, has never supported a Jewish community. In 1786, however, Aaron Levy founded the town and it became the first town in the U.S. founded by a Jewish person. The town’s Jewish origins remained largely unknown outside of Aaronsburg until October 23, 1949, when more than 30,000 people came to Aaronsburg for the “Aaronsburg Story,” a celebration of Aaronsburg’s multi-faith history and Jewish founder.

Click here to learn about Aaronsburg's Jewish history

Lock Haven

Lock Haven, located in Clinton County, had the first permanent Jewish settlement in both Centre and Clinton counties. One Lock Haven Jewish family, the Clasters, operated a dry goods business and helped more than one hundred Jewish family members and friends immigrate to the U.S in the early twentieth century. These new arrivals, who initially worked as peddlers and later established their own businesses, serviced the Central Pennsylvania region and helped form some of the other early Jewish communities in Central Pennsylvania.

Click here to learn about Lock Haven's Jewish history

Bellefonte and State College

Although a Jewish community existed in Bellefonte as early as the mid-nineteenth century, no formal Jewish religious institutions developed in central Centre County until State College, home of the Pennsylvania State University, began attracting a Jewish population in the early twentieth century. These Jewish institutions supported Jewish Penn State students as well as Bellefonte and State College Jewish community members.

Click here to learn about Bellefonte and State College's Jewish history

Philipsburg

Philipsburg, located in western Centre County, had a Jewish population as early as the mid-nineteenth century, but its Jewish community increased rapidly with the arrival of Eastern European Jewish immigrants in the early twentieth century. Unlike the Jewish communities of Lock Haven, Bellefonte, and State College, whose histories are intertwined, the Jewish community of Philipsburg had little overlap with these other Central Pennsylvania Jewish communities.

Click here to learn about Philipsburg's Jewish history