Lewisburg

On its founding: "Lewisburg was founded in 1785 by Ludwig Derr,"¹ a settler who "purchased several tracts of land from the William Penn family and other neighboring landowners."¹ A year earlier, in 1784, he "worked with Samuel Weiser to lay out his combined land tracts, and create Derrstown"¹ — the name later changed to Lewisburg.

On what it became: "Over the centuries, Lewisburg has been a center of commerce in Union County. The West Branch Susquehanna River was used for logging and shipping."¹ "Prior to, and during, the Civil War, many abolitionists lived in the area, and several locations within the town of Lewisburg served as stopping points on the famous Underground Railroad."¹

On the town you walk today: its "19th-century downtown, centered around Market Street, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places,"¹ and the borough "is home to Bucknell University."¹ Market Street still carries the period architecture: the Chamberlin Iron Front Building, "built in 1868,"² "features a cast-iron front manufactured in Danville, Pennsylvania,"² while a few doors down the Packwood House-American Hotel was "Built circa 1813 and expanded circa 1866."³

Market Street is the point — "Historic Market Street is the borough's main thoroughfare,"¹ a National Register downtown best seen on foot. Its marquee landmark is the Campus Theatre, which "opened its doors on January 17, 1941"⁴ and is "one of the last of dwindling number of single screen art deco movie palaces in the country."⁴ Time a visit to a screening if you can. Steps away, the Packwood House Museum (the Packwood House-American Hotel) "has housed a decorative arts museum since 1972,"³ and Bucknell University's campus anchors the town's south end.

For a day outdoors, drive west to R. B. Winter State Park, "18 miles (29 km) west of Lewisburg,"⁵ where Halfway Lake sits behind "the first cement and stone dam ever built by the Civilian Conservation Corps."⁵