By Liz Izenas
Penn State Shenango
Editor's note: Most people know the history of Penn State as that of a school chartered in 1855 at the request of the Pennsylvania State Agricultural Society to apply scientific principles to farming. Since that time, Penn State has grown from that one campus at University Park to 24 locations statewide, and each of those other locations has its own history. Intercom is continuing to highlight those stories.
Penn State Shenango is nestled in a valley rich in history, which once was occupied by the Seneca and Delaware Nations. According to local historians, before the arrival of settlers in the Shenango Valley, the Seneca Nation governed the land now occupied by Penn State Shenango.
For a short time before the actual arrival of settlers, this section of the Shenango Valley was inhabited by a displaced clan of the Delaware Nation. Their leader, Kiondashawa, acted as a political liaison between his people and the Seneca Nation, and for a brief period, the new settlers in the valley. The name Shenango is said to have been derived from the Native American who once dominated the hunting land along what is now the Shenango River.
In 1795, the first settlement was established in Sharon by Benjamin Bentley, who set up a claim of 400 acres on the east side of the river. He, his wife and his family of six built a log cabin along the river. Then in 1796, other settlers, including Charles and Frances Reno, moved to this territory.
Charles Reno, a squatter with a large family, settled on the very spot where the campus is now located. According to historians, after the Revolutionary War the new government granted plots of land to soldiers who had fought on the front lines. While there's still a great deal of speculation, Reno is believed to have fought in the War for Independence. However, there never has been any formal document found to support this claim.
Years later, Charles' son, Benjamin Reno, along with the founding members of the community, named Reno Street in honor of his father. Until recently, Reno Street ran straight through the campus. The area now is occupied by a pedestrian walkway and garden, and by the Lartz Commons area.
The town grew slowly until the mid 1800s, when McDowell National Bank was established; the canal, which provided inexpensive transportation, was built; and the first railroad, which allowed the coal and iron business to develop, was completed. With these developments, Sharon began to grow rapidly and several other smaller towns throughout the region were established. Sharon was officially incorporated as a borough in 1841.
In 1963, the idea of a university in the Shenango Valley was discussed by a group of local citizens organized to form The Shenango Valley Citizens College Procurement Committee. This group realized that an affordable college, close to home, was needed for the students of our area to continue their educations.
In 1964, the Penn State Board of Trustees met with the College Area Procurement Committee, which researched areas of interest for young people to begin their first two years of college while living at home, and concluded that Sharon would be an ideal place for an institution of higher learning.
The State Board of Education endorsed the proposal, and the first students were enrolled at the Penn State Shenango Valley campus in September 1965. These 93 students began their education at Kennedy Christian High School, which agreed to allow Penn State to occupy the east wing of the school for the first two years of operation.
During this time, the community raised $200,000, part of which was used to buy land and existing buildings from the Sharon School District. The remaining money was spent on matching funds to attract federal and state grants to finance campus construction and remodeling projects.
The oldest building now occupied by the campus, Lecture Hall, was built in 1903. It originally was built as the city's Central School, combining many of the community's one-room schoolhouses.
Sharon Hall, the second building purchased from the city of Sharon by the University, was built in 1928. This building, a spacious, brick edifice with neo-classical trim, will long be remembered by older campus students as "the old junior high school."
In the fall of 1967, 250 students were enrolled at the Shenango Valley campus. At that time, the Sharon School District was still using the Lecture and Sharon Hall buildings until the new Sharon High School could be completed; therefore, during the summer of 1967, the campus moved from Kennedy Christian High School into the old, vacated Sharon High School building on South Water Avenue.
Also in 1967, ground was broken at the campus' present location for a new science facility. It was completed in the fall of 1968, and the college began to hold some of its biology and chemistry courses there. It wasn't until 1970, however, that the administrative offices, library and all other classes moved from the South Water Avenue building into the renovated Sharon and Lecture Halls.
In 1972, the Forker Laboratory, adjacent to the existing science building, was constructed and dedicated to Henry P. Forker III, former head of the campus' first advisory board and a member of the Shenango Valley Citizens College Procurement Committee. This building houses the Forum, the largest student classroom on the campus.
Over the last 30 years, Penn State Shenango has seen significant growth and many changes. Now located on 14.5 acres in downtown Sharon, Penn State Shenango -- "Valley" was dropped in the late 1980s -- is the only urban campus in the University system.
Liz Izenas can be reached at egi100@psu.edu
Shenango at a glance
* Thomas Rookey, campus executive officer
* 14.5 acre campus in downtown Sharon
* Student enrollment of 872
* 34 full-time and 50 part-time faculty
* Student/faculty ratio of 16 to 1
* First two years of more than 160 Penn State majors
* Seven associate degrees and four baccalaureate degrees
* Certificate and non-certificate programs
* 18 student clubs and organizations