Oleona, Pennsylvania | |
|---|---|
Unincorporated community | |
  Oleona  Oleona | |
| Coordinates: 41°33′22″N77°42′06″W / 41.55611°N 77.70167°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Pennsylvania |
| County | Potter |
| Elevation | 1,335 ft (407 m) |
| Time zone | UTC-5 (Eastern (EST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-4 (EDT) |
| GNIS feature ID | 1214042 [1] |
Oleona, originally spelled Oleana, [2] [3] [4] is an unincorporated community in Potter County, Pennsylvania, United States [1] established by the Norwegian violinist Ole Bull. [5]
During his stay in the United States, the violinist Ole Bull purchased a large piece of land in Potter County, Pennsylvania, in 1852. He gave it the name Oleana or New Norway. Bull's intention was to invite Scandinavian immigrants to build and settle there. It soon became apparent that the land was not suitable for settlement at all. [6] In the first year, up to 700 immigrants settled and tried to establish new homes there, roads were created, and a sawmill and other facilities were built. However, already after one year, the settlers realized that it was not possible to make a living because of the poor soil, and so they moved on, many to Wisconsin. [7]
When Bull arrived in New York in 1852, he was deeply disappointed that the Storting had rejected his application for support for a theater he himself had started in Bergen; namely, the National Theater. Instead, he now devoted himself to the New Norway project high up in the Allegheny Mountains, which Henrik Wergeland had written a beautiful poem about. He purchased the area there with the New York attorney John Hopper (the son of Isaac Hopper) [8] and a third party. He received 11,144 acres for a total of $10,388, and he became chairman of an operating company with John F. Cowan as manager. [2] [9] Bull's contribution to the operating company was $25,000 because everything from roads and homes to a church and a school, a mill, and canals were needed here. In the neighboring county there was a foundry, and the company hoped for a profitable government contract for casting 10,000 cannons. They also hoped for railways and to find ore. [10]
The first settlers arrived in September 1852. They received $15 a month, as well as board and lodging. They were allowed to buy land at an introductory price of $3 per acre, rising to $10 after a few years. Bull also selected a plot for his own house. "We are here to found a new Norway, dedicated to freedom and independence, and protected by the glorious flag of America," he declared at the inauguration on September 8, 1852. However, to own land in Pennsylvania one had to be a US citizen, or declare that one wanted to become so. Bull resolved this issue by making such a statement at a separate ceremony in Philadelphia. This displeased many Norwegians. Bull had an agent in New York and one in Norway to recruit new colonists, but his income failed because he also had an agent as well as a singer at his concerts. Previously, he could earn up to $3,000 at one concert, albeit gross. However, now he was lucky if he was left with $500 in profit. In the colony there were twelve deaths the first winter and meager times, while Bull dreamed about buying an abandoned iron works and planned a polytechnic school with professors from Europe, as well as its own sanatorium. [10]
In March 1853, money for the settlers' wages stopped coming in. On the other hand, the deed was in order, but then it turned out that the agreement contained three parcels that were not included in the purchase. These exceptions amounted to more than 650 acres; namely, the valley bottoms in the area, where agriculture could be practiced in the otherwise very hilly terrain. Oleana itself and the plot where Bull's own house stood were not included in the purchase either, but belonged to Cowan. It was not until May 17 that Bull showed up and personally distributed $7,000 in outstanding salaries and other receivables. He agreed to return on Independence Day, July 4, but instead went to New York, ill and bankrupt. The project was completed on his part, and he preferred to inform his attorney Lucius E. Bulkley about this instead of the settlers. When he found out in the fall how bad things were with them, he gave several concerts to raise income for them. Several settlers had almost sued him at the time because of money he owed them. The sheriff in a small town seized Bull's violin due to an unpaid hotel bill of $403, but he was strongly criticized for this by The New York Times . Most settlers went their separate ways; that winter there were fewer than fifty remaining, and later they also left. Bull, on the other hand, is believed to have lost around $70,000 on the project, [11] in addition to the fact that people had lost much of their respect for him. The loss probably could have been avoided if he had sold the timber in the area, but his lawyer Lucius E. Bulkley, who advised him, did not know how valuable this was. Bull was nevertheless not intimidated by the financial loss, and he started an opera in New York two years later—which he lost $12,800 on. [10]
There was a lot of talk in Norway about the fantastic opportunities the emigrants were promised in Oleana. However, when it gradually became known that there was no arable land, Ditmar Meidell wrote the satirical song "Oleana" about the attempt to create a model Nordic society in America. [12] This song has been covered from time to time, including in the TV personality and songwriter Erik Bye's repertoire. The song was also translated into English as "Oleanna" and was popularized by former Weavers member Pete Seeger. [13]
Today, large parts of the area are included in Ole Bull State Park. [14]
Tioga County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 41,045. Its county seat is Wellsboro. The county was created on March 26, 1804, from part of Lycoming County and later organized in 1812. It is named for the Tioga River.
Potter County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, its population was 16,396, making it the fifth-least populous county in Pennsylvania. Its county seat is Coudersport. The county was created in 1804 and later organized in 1836. It is named after James Potter, who was a general from Pennsylvania in the Continental Army during the American Revolution. Due to its remoteness and natural environment, it has been nicknamed “God's Country”.
Williamsport is a city in, and the county seat of, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 27,754. It is the principal city of the Williamsport Metropolitan Statistical Area, which has a population of about 114,000. Williamsport is the larger principal city of the Williamsport-Lock Haven Combined Statistical Area, which includes Lycoming and Clinton counties.
Coudersport is a borough in and the county seat of Potter County, Pennsylvania. It is located approximately 110 miles (180 km) east by south of Erie on the Allegheny River. The population was 2,371 at the 2020 census.
Eulalia Township is a township in Potter County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 873 at the 2020 census.
Sweden Township is a township in Potter County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 871 at the 2020 census.
Oleanna is:
Ole Bornemann Bull was a Norwegian virtuoso violinist and composer. According to Robert Schumann, he was on a level with Niccolò Paganini for the speed and clarity of his playing.
"Oleanna" is a Norwegian folk song that was translated into English and popularized by former Weavers member Pete Seeger. The song is a critique of Ole Bull's vision of a perfect society in America. Oleanna was actually the name of one of Ole Bull's settlements in the New Norway colony of Pennsylvania. His society failed, and all of the immigrants moved away since the dense forest made it hard to settle there. The lyrics concern the singer's desire to leave Norway and escape to Oleanna, a land where "wheat and corn just plant themselves, then grow a good four feet a day while on your bed you rest yourself."
Cherry Springs State Park is an 82-acre (33 ha) Pennsylvania state park in Potter County, Pennsylvania, United States. The park was created from land within the Susquehannock State Forest, and is on Pennsylvania Route 44 in West Branch Township. Cherry Springs, named for a large stand of Black Cherry trees in the park, is atop the dissected Allegheny Plateau at an elevation of 2,300 feet (701 m). It is popular with astronomers and stargazers for having "some of the darkest night skies on the east coast" of the United States, and was chosen by the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) and its Bureau of Parks as one of "25 Must-See Pennsylvania State Parks".
Upper Pine Bottom State Park is a 5-acre (2.0 ha) Pennsylvania state park in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania in the United States. The park is in Cummings Township on Pennsylvania Route 44 and is surrounded by the Tiadaghton State Forest. It is on Upper Pine Bottom Run, which gave the park its name and is a tributary of Pine Creek. Upper Pine Bottom State Park is in the Pine Creek Gorge, where the streams have cut through five major rock formations from the Devonian and Carboniferous periods.
Lyman Run State Park is a 595-acre (241 ha) Pennsylvania state park in Ulysses and West Branch Townships in Potter County, Pennsylvania in the United States. Lyman Run Lake is a 45-acre (18 ha) man-made lake within the park, surrounded by a northern hardwood forest of mainly maple and cherry trees. Lyman Run State Park is 7 miles (11 km) west of Galeton and 15 miles (24 km) east of Coudersport, and is nearly completely surrounded by the Susquehannock State Forest.
Ole Bull State Park is a 132-acre (53 ha) Pennsylvania state park in Stewardson Township, Potter County, Pennsylvania in the United States. The park is located on Pennsylvania Route 144, 26 miles (42 km) north of Renovo and 18 miles (29 km) south of Galeton. Ole Bull State Park is in the Kettle Creek Valley, and is surrounded by Susquehannock State Forest. The woods surrounding the park are called the Black Forest because of its once dense tree cover.
The Jersey Shore, Pine Creek and Buffalo Railway was a railroad built in the early 1880s to give the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad access to the coal regions around Clearfield, Pennsylvania, United States.
U.S. Route 15 (US 15) is United States Numbered Highway that runs from Walterboro, South Carolina, north to Painted Post, New York. In Pennsylvania, the highway runs for 194.89 miles (313.65 km), from the Maryland state line just south of Gettysburg, north to the New York state line near Lawrenceville.
The Coudersport and Port Allegany Railroad Station is a railroad station in Coudersport, Pennsylvania in the United States. It was built by the Coudersport and Port Allegany Railroad in 1899 and opened in January 1900 during the lumber industry boom in Potter County. When the lumber ran out, the railroad's business decreased and in 1964 the line and station were purchased by the Wellsville, Addison and Galeton Railroad. The station was abandoned in 1970 and was unoccupied until 1975, when the borough of Coudersport purchased it. The borough restored it and put a new roof on, then used the building for office space. The station was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on November 21, 1976.
The Coudersport and Port Allegany Railroad was a shortline railroad that operated in Potter and McKean Counties in Pennsylvania in the United States between 1882 and 1964. The original line ran 17 miles (27 km) along the Allegheny River between the boroughs of Coudersport, the county seat of Potter County, and Port Allegany in McKean County. The line was originally a 3 ft narrow gauge and converted to 4 ft 8+1⁄2 instandard gauge in 1889. It was prosperous during a lumber boom in the region and expanded east to Ulysses. The lumber boom ended in the early 20th century and the line slowly declined until 1964, when it was purchased by the Wellsville, Addison and Galeton Railroad. The line was finally abandoned in 1970. Today the only surviving building from the railroad is the Coudersport and Port Allegany Railroad Station, which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976 and serves as the town hall for Coudersport today. As of 2009, much of the C&PA railroad grading can still be found. Railroad bridge abutments exist at Lillibridge Creek in Port Allegany and along the Allegheny River at Coleman Mills, east of Roulette, and east and west of Coudersport.
Oleana is a textile manufacturing company located in Arna, Norway, a borough of Bergen. It is known for its manufacture of knitted clothing and blankets designed by Solveig Hisdal.
The Potter Leader-Enterprise is an American weekly newspaper serving Coudersport, Pennsylvania, with a circulation of over 6,000 copies. It is published weekly on Wednesdays. The paper is owned by Community Media Group, Inc.
Johan Bull was an American painter. His work was part of the painting event in the art competition at the 1932 Summer Olympics.
Municipalities and communities of Potter County, Pennsylvania, United States | ||
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| Boroughs |  | |
| Townships | ||
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| Unincorporated communities | ||