The second home of the Penn State Center in York was located at 517 Carlisle Avenue from Fall of 1950 until Spring of 1953. The building, across the road from the York Fairgrounds, is the former Wilson four-room schoolhouse. (Penn State photo)
When Penn State York neighbored The York Fairgrounds
The second home of the Penn State Center in York was located at 517 Carlisle Avenue from Fall of 1950 until Spring of 1953. That building, across the road from the York Fairgrounds, is the former Wilson four-room schoolhouse.
The association of Penn State with York County to provide specialized technical education began in 1926. For the initial two decades that connection was primarily through evening courses held at the Y.M.C.A. or at York High. That changed in 1948, when Penn State’s first York County dedicated facility was set up to provide full daytime specialized technical courses. That initial Penn State Center leased the third floor of the York Junior College building, at 243 South Duke Street, from the Fall of 1948 until the Spring of 1950.
Fall of 1950 featured New Modern Facilities for Penn State York
Quoting from Penn State ads: “In order to better serve the people and industries of York, The Pennsylvania State College has leased the Wilson school building, 517 Carlisle Ave. (across from Fair grounds) as the NEW PENN STATE CENTER IN YORK. After the installation of modern drafting rooms and electrical and television laboratories, Penn State will operate a fulltime Technical Institute offering one year courses in various engineering fields, and an Evening Technical Institute offering part-time classes (2 evenings a week) in business and engineering subjects. All Penn State Extension courses are supervised by Campus Subject Matter Departments, and are backed by the entire resident and research facilities of the College.”
The Wilson Four-Room Schoolhouse
In 1919, the West Manchester Township School Board opened the Wilson four-room schoolhouse at 517 Carlisle Avenue. Since this schoolhouse sat within the 1928 land annexation by York City the building becoming a city school that year. The York City School Board decided to discontinue use of the school in June 1950. In August 1950, the school board leased the building to The Pennsylvania State College for $275 per month.
Temporary partitions in the first floor classrooms and basement labs provided rooms for instructors to teach 25 daytime and 300 evening students enrolled for the 1950-1951 school year.
Edward M. Elias
A new faculty member hired for this facility in 1950 was Edward M. Elias, who formerly served as an electrical engineering instructor at the Penn State College in Allentown. Besides teaching, Edward Elias was appointed the administrative head of the Penn State Center in York. It was the start of his 35-year career of guiding the growth of Penn State course offerings and expanding facilities in York. Edward Elias retired as Chief Executive Officer of the Penn State York Campus in 1985. In recognition of his impact on the campus, a new science center, which revamped the former library building in 2010, was named the Edward M. Elias Science Center.
The following is one of the typical ads advertising the training offered at The Penn State Center in York. Students enrolled in the full-time day program received thirty-hours of practical instruction a week.
Students at the Penn State Center along Carlisle Road were allowed to operate a private York Fair parking lot on the front lawn and rear parking lot during Fair Week in 1951 and 1952. The proceeds were added to a student activities fund. This use did not interfere with the school, since Fall classes began the week after the York Fair closed. The following 2015 photo shows this building continues as a private fair parking lot site.
Follow-up posts will explore The Penn State Center: at 2130 School Street in Shiloh from 1953 to 1956, and at 1031 Edgecomb Avenue where classes were first held during the Fall of 1956. That site still had only one building when I completed my Freshman year there in 1968-1969. However over the years the site blossomed into the present impressive Penn State York campus where tens-of-thousands of students received an excellent college education during the past 70-years.
Unfortunately Penn State officials made the decision in 2025 to close Penn State York following the Spring semester of 2027. Gone will be the Century-long relationship between Penn State University and York County. Gone will be local classes taught directly by professors.
Click on this LINK for a yorkblog.com Full View of the photos and illustrations in this post.
Links to related posts include:
When Penn State Center was in York Junior College building
Free Tuition to attend Penn State in early 1900s
Reading the Headlines: A Quick Index to All YorksPast Posts
