Editing Patton Township, Pennsylvania (section)

==History==
Patton Township was established in 1794 and named after Colonel John Patton, a revolutionary officer, who co-owned the [[Centre Furnace Mansion House|Centre Furnace]], along with Colonel Samuel Miles. The Peter Gray family and the Conrad Hartsock family were the earliest settlers to the area.  They came to the Half Moon Valley in 1788, from [[Frederick County, Maryland]], and settled in what is now Patton Township.  The early days were strongly influenced by [[Methodism]].  As soon as Peter Gray had a roof on his log cabin, he began Sunday School classes, and founded what is today Grays United Methodist Church. These settlers also made pilgrimages to church at [[Warriors Mark Township, Pennsylvania|Warriors Mark]], a 12-mile distance, because that was the nearest regular preaching point in the valley.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.graysumc.org/history.html|title=History|work=Grays United Methodist Church, Port Matilda, PA}}</ref>

Iron mining had begun in the early days of Patton Township, affording supply of ore for Centre Furnace. [[Scotia, Pennsylvania|Scotia]], a [[company town]] established by [[Andrew Carnegie]], was one of the largest mining operations in the area. Scotia's population peaked at 400 in the 1890s before the mines closed in 1911. Lumber was sourced from the [[Scotia Barrens]] for a sawmill in [[Waddle, Pennsylvania|Waddle]] from 1910 until 1915.<ref name="wl">{{Cite web |url= https://centrehistory.org/article/scotia/|title= Scotia|last= Hazelton|first= Bob|date= July 5, 2024|website= centrehistory.org|publisher= |access-date= |quote=}}</ref>

In 1927 [[Woodycrest, Pennsylvania|Woodycrest]] would begin as an unplanned community out of W.A. Strouse's 65-acre farm. Strouse sold plots of land for $20 to $50 each. At the time the main road from Woodycrest to State College was a dirt road that meandered from [[State College#College Heights|College Heights]] to Waddle.<ref name="ath">{{Cite web|date= November 6, 2024|publisher= StateCollege.com|title= Penn State Diary|url= https://www.statecollege.com/articles/spot-8/penn-state-diary-names-of-places-in-centre-county-have-lessons-to-teach/}}</ref> In 1930 Patton Township recorded its lowest population (442) prior to the construction of [[U.S. Route 322 Business (State College, Pennsylvania)|North Atherton Street]] and Skytop Mountain Road from [[State College#Downtown|Downtown]] State College to [[Martha Furnace, Pennsylvania|Martha's Furnace]] in 1932. In the same year, Lytle's addition, an affordable working class community, was annexed by Borough of State College from College Township.<ref>{{Cite web|date= February 1999|publisher= State College|title= Borough of State College Neighborhood Plan|url= https://content.civicplus.com/api/assets/e9aabf35-da1e-44dd-a236-576e5c4ba203?cache=1800}}</ref> As prices in Lytle's addition rose, residents moved into Woodycrest.<ref name="ath" />

In 1956 construction began in [[Park Forest Village, Pennsylvania|Park Forest]], a [[planned community]] split between Ferguson and Patton Townships that would grow to become the most populous census-designated place in Centre County.<ref name="uj" /> In 1967 Park Forest Elementary School was built and Park Forest Middle School followed in 1971 in Park Forest's North End.<ref name="smab">{{Cite web|publisher= State College Area School District|title= Timeline: 1896 the present|url= https://www.scasd.org/our-district/about-the-district/history/timeline}}</ref> In 1968 construction began in [[Toftrees, Pennsylvania|Toftrees]], a [[Medium-density housing|medium-density]] planned community north of Woodycrest. In 1990 construction began in Gray’s Woods, a planned community near the ghost town Scotia.<ref name="uj">{{Cite web|publisher= Patton Township|url= https://a9b1d3c119c80baabb72-47546d88ceba6aa6de4b0270186f86a0.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/uploaded/2/0e13190667_1634835371_2021-patton-township-housing-task-force-report--optimized.pdf|title= Patton Township Housing Task Force Report}}</ref> Gray's Woods Elementary School would be built in 2002.<ref name="smab" />

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File:Grays United Methodist Church PA 550 Centre Co.jpg|Grays United Methodist Church
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