The cornerstone and brick from the former Kittanning Junior High School has been re-laid on the lawn of the Armstrong County Historical Museum, along with the school bell.
The concrete cornerstone that was laid 100 years ago into the Central Elementary School (also known as the Kittanning Junior High School) is now available for generations to observe as part of Kittanning’s heritage.
The Armstrong County Historical Museum inherited the cornerstone when the school building was being demolished in early 2018.
“The cornerstone of the junior high school and the bell was donated from the Armstrong School District,” said Larry Vorpe, the Museum’s Preservationist. “Now, the bell sat in front of the school for probably 30 plus years. Whenever they went to tear down the old school, they decided to give it to us. We wondered what in the world we were going to do with it and I come up with the idea to redo the cornerstone to make it look like it’s in the original building and put the bell up on top, so we’ll have two in for one.”
Vorpe said the original cornerstone was laid in April 1919 with an official ceremony. Now, 100 years (plus a few months later), the cornerstone has been re-laid on the lawn of the Museum.
To accomplish such a feat, Vorpe called upon the services of a long-time friend, Harvey Jack. Jack is a local third generation union brick layer. Jack laid a block foundation that went down 36 inches so the cornerstone would not be disrupted by frost. Then Vorpe got some actual brick from the school building and the cornerstone was placed on top of the foundation, and surrounded by brick. A cement slab was poured on top of the brickwork, and the bell was installed on top of the slab.
“The brick are used brick that came from the school across the street here. They got them. Larry cleaned them and that’s how we installed/built it with. It matches the corner school that it was built in original,” Jack said as the bell was being installed on Saturday, July 13.
“I think it’s a nice feature, a nice County memento to the schools,” Vorpe said. “Not just in Kittanning, but all of the schools in Armstrong County. The bell, we know, came from a school in the County, but we’re not sure which one.”
The clapper was installed as the first ringing of the bell sounded throughout the downtown area Saturday morning. Vorpe said the clapper will be removed, and a pin installed so the bell will not move. The clapper will be reattached and the pin removed for special occasions when Museum officials want to ring the bell.
However, the bell and cornerstone were not the only “finds” by the Museum, according to Co-Curator Tyler Woodside.
“When they removed the cornerstone, they found there was a time capsule inside. We have those contents, which were some photos, notes from the school directors at the time - a lot of it survived, some of it got wet, but it’s pretty interesting that that survived.”
Two of the four newspapers - The Kittanning Tribune and Kittanning Free Press - are shown here. Not pictured are Simpson’s Daily Leader and The Daily Times. All four newspapers were in the cornerstone of the former Kittanning Junior High School.
At the time the school was built in 1919, there were four newspapers in town that carried the story. Each one of the newspapers – Simpson’s Daily Leader, The Kittanning Tribune, Kittanning Free Press, and The Daily Times – was included in the time capsule. The time capsule was a copper box fabricated by a local tinsmith at the time, Woodside said.
“Inside, there’s a few of the programs (from the dedication of the cornerstone). The Masons donated money to help erect the school so they were part of the ceremony at that day in 1919. There’s a Bible that they used that day when they during the ceremony. It’s not in great shape, but we just left it in there and didn’t mess with it. And, some of the coins for that year were put into the box, I believe it was all of the school administrators at the time and the Masons put a coin into the box.”
Woodside said the Bible was an important part of the ceremony. A local Presbyterian pastor and the Masons were greatly involved in the dedication.
“I think it worked out very well and it’s something the community can have, well, like for another hundred years,” Vorpe said.
Bricklayer Harvey Jack prepares to erect two historical granite stones from the former Kittanning Junior High School on property at the Armstrong County Museum. The one is the name of the junior high and the other is its original name Central Elementary. The stones were donated to the school in 1986 by the student council. The Museum received them when the school was demolished in 2018.