Avco-Lycoming Metal Trades Center
Pennsylvania College of Technology History Trail Stop 13
| | 1914 Centennial 2014 | |
Constructed in 1980
The Avco-Lycoming Metal Trades Center, a welding and metal trades instructional laboratory, is positioned at the northwest end of a pedestrian mall that runs south from West Third Street through the heart of the campus.
The center is named for a Williamsport-based industry with a world-wide reputation for the quality of its aircraft engines. The company has a nearly century-old partnership with the institution, since its earliest days of operation as Williamsport Technical Institute.
Technical Trades
The company for which the building is named (known today as Lycoming Engines) built vehicle engines for World War I and aircraft engines for World War II. Over the years, it has built more than 325,000 piston aircraft engines, powering more than half the world's general aviation fleet.
Today, Penn College is the only authorized training site for service of the Lycoming piston engine. Aircraft owners and operators from around the world attend classes at Penn College's Lumley Aviation Center.
For decades, this facility has served the needs of the region's primary industries, including the natural gas industry, emerging early in the 21st century.
Inside the Metal Trades Center (MTC)
Welding lab
Robotic welder
Plasma cutter
[Marker timeline images, from left to right]
South of the Metal Trades Center in a former industrial complex, built in 1931-42, that now serves as laboratory space for machining, electrical, and other Penn College programs.
Welding processes have evolved over the last 100 years.
Formerly on this site, at the corner of West Third and Susquehanna Streets, was the Strailey Building, which once housed a variety of Williamsport Area Community College offices and services.
A rededication in 2010 celebrated the expansion of the welding facility.
[School's centennial timeline]
1914 - Williamsport Area School District Adult Education
1941 - Williamsport Technical Institute
1965 - Williamsport Area Community College
1989 - Pennsylvania College of Technology
Erected 2014
this page online
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Air & Space • Education • Industry & Commerce. A significant historical year for this entry is 1914.
Location. 41° 14.207′ N, 77° 1.582′ W. Marker is in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, in Lycoming County. It can be reached from West 3rd Street. Marker and building are on the Pennsylvania College of Technology campus, along the pedestrian mall south of the intersection of 3rd and Susquehanna Streets. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Williamsport PA 17701, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in the Pennsylvania Wilds and in the Susquehanna Valley. It is also in the American Northeast, in the Mid-Atlantic, in Appalachia, and specifically in Northern Appalachia. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy and also one of the original Thirteen Colonies.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance
Also see . . . Penn College History Trail. (Submitted on August 22, 2018, by William Fischer, Jr. of Reynoldsburg, Ohio.)
Credits. This page was last revised on August 22, 2018. It was originally submitted on August 22, 2018, by William Fischer, Jr. of Reynoldsburg, Ohio. This page has been viewed 527 times since then and 23 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on August 22, 2018, by William Fischer, Jr. of Reynoldsburg, Ohio. 3. submitted on July 27, 2018, by William Fischer, Jr. of Reynoldsburg, Ohio.
