What town can resist not just one but two chances to celebrate being on the front lines when America was founded, then going on to throw a centennial birthday party with the state of Pennsylvania? Certainly not Greensboro!
When the town’s old public school that housed the Monon Center was sold in 2020, board members were busy cataloging and making plans to distribute the center’s extensive collection of artifacts to area nonprofits, including the Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh. These two photographs from the archives are a shout out to two Bicentennials – and a Tercentennial – that were celebrated in Greensboro in 1975 and 1981.
This corner of the state played an important role in settling the Western Frontier and river towns like Greensboro were where the industrial age began. Coal mining, steel production and river transportation are what helped build the infrastructure of the 20th century. It is a past worth remembering.
Showcasing Greensboro’s part in that past began in 1975 when the Monon Center heralded the coming Bicentennial with four river cruises from Morgantown, WV to Pittsburgh. These cruises featured stops along the way to relive the experience of river travel when mail was delivered on packet boats and necessities were made by hand. The July cruise allowed history lovers to have mail delivered to their loved ones by river transport, with special envelopes and commemorative postmarks. It was a hit and the Monon Center has records of everyone who participated, board member Candace Radal notes. Cruises continued until fall, featuring music festivals and the spectacle of autumn leaves that rival those to be seen in Vermont. The era of appreciating local history in rural, picturesque Greene County was off and running.
The Women’s Club of Southeastern Greene County can take credit for the organizing smarts and volunteer hours it took to make this and more happen in the year leading up to the nationwide 4th of July celebrations of 1976.
The Bicentennial photo, produced by Kramers Studio of Greensboro was taken July 5, 1976 at the dedication of the Monon Center. Board chairman James D. South is standing on the left next to Greensboro Mayor Harry E. Drew and that’s Board treasurer H. Miller Barb dressed in Colonial gear beside Teresa Heinz, wife of Senator H. J. Heinz. The Heinz family is known for supporting history and the arts. The fact that Mrs. Heinz herself came to speak that day, along with Senator
Austin Murphy, is proof enough that the Monon Center succeeded in its mission of historic preservation and appreciation.
The second photo commemorates the party that was thrown in 1981 when Greensboro held its 1781 Bicentennial that coincided with the 1681 Tercentennial of Pennsylvania. The Monon Center was again in the thick of it, with historical displays and activities in every room. Governor Thornburgh was the invited speaker for the Bicentennial dinner dance. He’s seen here in the Center’s River Room Museum, watching in amazement at the massive Lock and Dam # 7 model, filled with water is put into full operation. The model was built and operated by river historian and River Room curator Ernie “Weenie” Gabler. In the photo, Gabler is in the left corner in the “captain’s room” running the controls that moved the water and allowed the riverboat to move through the lock. This unique structure has been carefully disassembled and plans are in the works to donate it and other waterway artifacts to the Mon River Museum in Monongahela. It would be wonderful to see this historic lock and dam in full operation once more.
