FUN Facts: Polk State School Population Was Over 3,000 in 1940s, President Buchanan’s Camp in Lucinda, More

| June 25, 2018

FUN Facts, brought to you by First United National Bank, is a new weekly feature on exploreClarion.com and exploreVenango.com that will list facts about the area and other relevant topics.

1. U.S. President James Buchanan Had a Camp in Lucinda

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President James Buchanan, who was born in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, had connections to Clarion County in his adult life. As a businessman, he and a partner purchased the hot blast charcoal Lucinda Furnace along Paint Creek as well as 4,351 acres in Knox Township in 1843, and he established a camp in Lucinda, Clarion County, as well. Although Lucinda Furnace is in ruins now, the nearby Buchanan Furnace still stands and bears his name. Buchanan is the only U.S. President born in Pennsylvania. (Source: PA Great Outdoors Visitors Bureau)

2. Foxburg Country Club is the Oldest Golf Course in Continuous Use in the U.S.

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Foxburg Country Club, established in 1887, is the oldest golf course in continuous use in the United States. It is located in Foxburg, Clarion County, Pennsylvania, United States of America, approximately 55 miles (89 km) north of Pittsburgh on a hill rising about 300 feet above the Allegheny River. The course was listed in 2007 as Foxburg Country Club and Golf Course on the National Register of Historic Places.[1] The clubhouse contains the American Golf Hall of Fame. (Source: National Register of Historic Places)

3. Polk State School Reached Population Over 3,000 in 1940s

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Polk State School, now known as Polk State Center, reached its all-time high with a population of 3,390 children during the period of 1942 to 1944. The facility, located in Polk, Venango County, was opened and constructed in the late 1890s as an “Institution for the Feeble-Minded.” It was the second facility of its kind in Pennsylvania. It currently houses 250 and 300 residents. (Source: Venango County Historical Society.)

4. Clarion County Was Formed on Land Acquired by the Treaty of Fort Stanwix

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Clarion County was created on March 11, 1839, from parts of Venango and Armstrong Counties and named for the Clarion River. Clarion, the county seat, was incorporated as a borough on April 6, 1841. It was formed on land acquired from Indians by the Treaty of Fort Stanwix in 1784. (Source: PA Historical & Museum Commission)

5. The French and British Built Forts in Venango County During the French and Indian War

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Venango County was formed on March 12, 1800, one of several counties carved out of the sparsely populated region of northwestern Pennsylvania. A half-century before the Venango sector had attracted the attention of the French and in 1753, they selected it as a site for one of the forts which would claim the region for their king. When they fled at the end of the French and Indian War, the British quickly responded by building Fort Venango at the confluence of French Creek and the Allegheny River in 1760. The fort was burned and the soldiers massacred in Pontiac’s uprising in 1763. (Source: Venango County)

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