Top of the News:

Boal Mansion Event Celebrates Link

with July 4^th 1776 Declaration of Independence

(Boalsburg, PA) - On Saturday, July 5th Boalsburg will celebrate its special link with the Declaration of Independence. A portrait and an original signature of a signer of the Declaration of Independence, Richard Henry Lee, an ancestor of the Boal family, will be on display during a free guided tour of the Boal Mansion Museum offered at 1:30 PM. Click here for complete story.

The Columbus Chapel and Boal Mansion Museum

are open six days a week (closed Mondays) from 10 am to 5 pm, except summer Sundays, when they are open Noon to 5 pm.

After September 1, 2008, they are open from 1:30 to 5 pm. Group tours are possible at any time in any season by advance arrangement.

Boal Mansion Memorial Day Event Honors

Community Service and Historic Preservation

(Boalsburg, PA) - The Boal Awards for Community Service and for Historic Preservation were presented at Memorial Day festivities at the Boal Mansion Museum on May 26. A Boal Award for Education was withheld pending contacts with a local school district. (more).

To become a volunteer museum guide in 2008, click here.

For Boalsburg Village Conservancy news: click here

The Boalsburg Village Conservancy has held meetings to plan for Boalsburg's 200th birthday in 2008/2009. A schedule of events and historical publications are planned.

For details, click here.

Want to have some fun this spring and summer? Become a volunteer guide!

Join other bright, motivated community members to learn more about history, art, weapons, and tell others about it. Consider becoming a docent (a volunteer guide) at the Columbus Chapel and Boal Mansion Museum. Docents also help out with special events at the Museum such as Music at the Boal Mansion on May 3 (see story above), the Memorial Day festival on May 26 and the Columbus Ball on October 11, 2008.

Interested adults and students (14 years and older) are welcome to attend a docent orientation at the Boal Mansion -- a tour of the Museum and a look at the docent program -- on Saturday, May 10, 2008 from 1:30 to 3:00 PM , or schedule an orientation of their own. Parents of students are welcome to attend as well. To schedule your tour/orientation, contact the Museum at 814-466-6210 or office@boalmuseum. For details, click here.

************************************

This web site is designed to help you learn more about the museum and the Boal family. Use the menu on the left of every page to navigate through the different areas. Click on a particular area of interest to either open or close the more specific lists. Click on "Home Page" or the logo at the top to return to this page.

If you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to e-mail us at: office@boalmuseum.com. You may also use e-mail to make reservations to special events (see Special Events on the left) or to arrange group tours, which are possible at any time or season by advance arrangement.

Nine generations of Boals have shaped today's community. The Boal Mansion has been home to these generations and after 219 years, the original family, furnishings, and buildings are still here. This registered National Historic Site, (US Department of the Interior), tells the story of America -- The Emerging Nation.

See also the Columbus Chapel which contains the most important Columbus collection in North America -- an incredible collection of Columbus relics, fine art, and religious relics, including two pieces of The True Cross.

Three Exhibit Rooms show how people lived, worked and fought from medieval times through Worlds War I, before electricity, cars, etc.

We have group tours available, wedding reception reservations available, and information for those interested in volunteering! If you'd like to support the Museum's mission with a donation click here for details.

More News

Always an educational beacon of light, now the Boal Mansion Museum has two new true beacons -- beautiful antique-style lamp posts, the same design as those in the village of Boalsburg.

The lights, located at the visitor parking and between the Mansion and the Playhouse, were installed with a grant from the Tourism Grant program of the Central Pennsylvania Convention and Visitors Bureau, a program funded through a tax on hotel guests and designed to “put heads in beds.” The lights are considered tourism infrastructure.

A third light, by the Columbus Chapel, has been sponsored by Jack Sapia of State College in memory of his wife Doris and his son Samuel “Arn” Sapia and should be installed by the May 1^st season opening.

An “active learning” tour of the Boal Mansion and Columbus Chapel took place in June. Fifty-six fifth graders from the Boalsburg Elementary School taught themselves about America, the emerging nation, and developed ideas about their own role in continuing our nation’s progress. For details on the tour format and how to arrange one, click here.

Under the leadership of State Deputy Joe Yourish, the Pennsylvania Knights of Columbus have involved councils throughout Pennsylvania in work to help out with the Columbus Chapel. Together, they have already restored the stone path to the Columbus Chapel. For details, click here.

"This is the most interesting room in Centre County" remarked volunteer guide John Kriner, a retired school principle, about the library at the Boal Mansion Museum. Kriner is one of a host of volunteer guides, ranging from age 14 to senior citizens who are retired but still active in their community.

These guides bring to life a wealth of local and international memorabilia such as a lock of hair of Napoleon, Christopher Columbus' Admiral's Desk and two pieces of the True Cross. When the tour is finished, visitors have connected with their American heritage. click here for the full story

In an effort to connect the rich historical heritage at the Boal Mansion Museum with our school children, the Boal Mansion Museum has organized a web site to make it as easy as possible for teachers to access the curriculum enhancement known as the Boal Mansion Museum. Teachers and curriculum supervisors, whether home schoolers or those from the State College Area School District are encouraged to click here to learn the ABC's about the many ways to do that.

We now have an online interactive genealogy database of the Boal Family dating back to 1764 starting with David Boal. To learn more about the Boal Family genealogy visit the genealogy page where you can read about our family history, talk to other Boal's on our message board, and search through our new database. Also, for an independent database on the Columbus family genealogy recently recommended to us, go to http://book-smith.tripod.com/colon.html

What’s in a name?

“Curriculum” by any other name…

Here’s a word whose meaning changes -- “curriculum.” What does it mean? Strictly speaking, “curriculum” means:

The planned interaction of pupils with instructional content, materials, resources, and processes for evaluating the attainment of educational objectives.

But these days it has taken on a new meaning: click here for the full story

Click here to go to a page with a selection of photos of Museum views.

The Boal Estate, a national historic site and a beautiful 40 acre country estate close to State College and Penn State University, offers the following affordable houses on the Estate for rent:

The Middle House, 2 br, $495

The End House, 3 br, $775

The Carriage House (first floor), 2 br, $575

The Gate House: 4br, $650

The Carriage House (second floor), 3 br, $650

The next availability for rental units is July 31, 2009.

To view, contact Park Forest Enterprises at (814) 238-3431 (you must specify you want the "Boal Estate") or go to http://rentpfe.com/boal_estate.htm