Mount Gretna in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)

Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle Building 1902

The Pennsylvania Chautauqua, Est 1892

— Mount Gretna —

Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle Building 1902 Marker image. Click for more information.

Photographed by William Fischer, Jr., May 24, 2025

1. Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle Building 1902 Marker

National Register of Historic Places Registration Form form the Pennsylvania Chautauqua Historic District
Click for more information.

Inscription.

Listed in the
National Register
Of Historic Places
Since 2015

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Education • Parks & Recreational Areas • Religion & Religious Structures. In addition, it is included in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1892.

Location. 40° 14.863′ N, 76° 28.312′ W. Marker is in Mount Gretna, Pennsylvania, in Lebanon County. It is on Carnegie Avenue south of Mount Gretna Road (Pennsylvania Route 117), on the left when traveling north. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 1 Carnegie Avenue, Mount Gretna PA 17064, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in South-Central Pennsylvania, specifically in Pennsylvania Dutch Country,

and in Greater Harrisburg.

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

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(Iroquois) Confederacy

and also one of the original Thirteen Colonies.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Original Post Office (within shouting distance of this marker); The Pennsylvania Chatauqua (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Library (about 700 feet away); Mount Gretna Campmeeting (about 700 feet away); Site of the 1949 Campmeeting Fire (approx. ¼ mile away); Mt. Gretna Tabernacle (approx. ¼ mile away); 511 2nd Street (approx. ¼ mile away); 603 1st Street (approx. ¼ mile away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Mount Gretna.

More about this marker. National Register Historic District Registration Form excerpt:

The third of Mount Gretna’s “trifecta” of still-in-use public buildings is known today as the Emporium (photo 27). Erected in 1902 it was once described by historian Jack Bitner as a “rustic Greek temple.”16 Actually it is a two-story Craftsman/Greek Revival building with a wide porch on two sides, a gable roof with pediment, and fourteen Ionic columns. Intended to provide classrooms and reading space for the Chautauqua Literary and

Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle Building image. Click for full size.

Photographed by William Fischer, Jr., May 24, 2025

2. Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle Building

Marker on wall to right of doorway

Scientific Circle, it served honorably in that capacity, then became the Oriental Shop in the 1920s. Various incarnations followed: bookstore, antiques and collectibles shop, and the current gift and novelty shop. The Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle, integral with the Chautauqua movement, featured a well-organized program of directed reading, completion of which entitled one to academic credit and a Chautauqua certificate. A CLSC circle had been established in Mount Gretna in 1895 and was popular enough to require its own home by 1902.

Also see . . . Mt. Gretna, Pennsylvania. Wikipedia entry (Submitted on June 28, 2025, by Larry Gertner of New York, New York.)

Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle Building Sign image. Click for full size.

Photographed by William Fischer, Jr., May 24, 2025

3. Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle Building Sign

Above doorway

Credits. This page was last revised on June 28, 2025. It was originally submitted on May 30, 2025, by William Fischer, Jr. of Reynoldsburg, Ohio. This page has been viewed 307 times since then and 120 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on May 30, 2025, by William Fischer, Jr. of Reynoldsburg, Ohio.