Penn State Intercom......June
21, 2001
Historical marker links lawmaker,
ancestor to University's Oak
Cottage
The installation of the newest campus historical marker held special significance for State Rep. Lynn Herman of Philipsburg and about a dozen other descendants of Penn State's first farm foreman, John Herman.
The marker commemorates
Oak Cottage, the first permanent building on the University Park campus.
John Herman, who was Rep. Herman's great-great-great grandfather, and
his family were the
first to occupy the cottage after its completion in 1857. The building
was later home to such illustrious faculty members as Whitman Jordan,
James Y. McKee and John Price Jackson.
The marker, installed June 15, is located on the structure's original site along Pollock Road behind Old Main. In 1889, the cottage was moved about a hundred yards north of that site, near present day Paterno Library. Chi Omega sorority occupied it 1929-48 and then it was used for academic offices until it was razed in 1972.
Oak Cottage is the 67th campus historical marker placed since the program began in 1989. Funded by the Penn State Alumni Association and administered by the Office of University Relations, the markers call attention to events, places and people at Penn State that played a significant role in the development of the University and its impact on society.