‘A hometown down in the valley.’ Take a mountain ride to this Centre County town with lots of character

Orviston at a glance

Population: 64 (based on the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 census)

Where to eat: Pack a lunch or venture off into nearby Howard Township to visit Kitchen Witch Cafe, or Brother’s Pizza in Howard or Beech Creek.

What to do there: Bloody Skillet ATV trail, kayaking and tubing in Beech Creek stream (depending on the water level), swimming holes, trout fishing at Hayes Run.

Good to know: If traveling from south of Orviston (such as State College, Bellefonte, Penns Valley), don’t follow your GPS to Orviston unless you want to travel over a dirt mountain road and have a larger vehicle. Instead, drive to Beech Creek. Once you drive over the green painted bridge, immediately on the north side of the bridge you’ll turn onto Monument Orviston Road and follow that until it ends — that will bring you into Orviston.

More info: Orviston, Pennsylvania 16864 Facebook page and the Orviston Committee Festival Facebook group

If an escape to the mountains surrounded by friends and camaraderie sounds like the ideal weekend getaway, then consider making the trek out to Orivston — one of the most remote parts of Centre County and home to the annual Orviston Celebration.

Orviston is an unincorporated area in Curtin Township, northern Centre County, that walks the line between Centre and Clinton counties. It’s one of, if not the least populated areas in the county. It had a population of 64 people in the 2020 census. Back in the day, it was a brickyard town with a railroad running through.

There’s not much there now, but what it might lack in stores, restaurants and other attractions is made up in the friendly tight-knit community that likes it that way.

On July 12-13 the town will have its annual Orviston Celebration, where the community comes together and distant family members return home to enjoy each other’s company, eat food and watch the local entertainment. This year is the 120th anniversary of the founding of Orviston (previously it was known as Hayes Run; it was renamed to Orviston after Ellis Orvis, a businessman who helped found Hayes Run Fire Brick Company and later was elected Centre County judge).

Dave Lomison has helped organize the celebration for years, and before that, his dad, Kelsey Lomison, was instrumental in starting the annual gathering.

“We bring vendors in and food vendors, … have different groups playing and entertaining throughout the day. We start usually on Friday (July 12) and then the vendors come in and set up in the early afternoon. They open up and provide their wares and food,” Lomison said in a phone interview.

On Saturday, July 13 they’ll start the day with an opening ceremony at 10:30 a.m. with entertainment beginning at 11:30 a.m. Lomison said they’ll have four different groups throughout the day and early evening. The vendors will be open throughout, as well. A parade will kick off at 2 p.m. (it often makes two laps around town).

A fireworks display is planned for 9:30 p.m. Saturday.

“For where we’re at and what we’re offering, it’s a really nice display. People really like it, talk about it and enjoy it,” he said. “It’s a hometown down in the valley, and the echo of the fireworks in the mountains, it’s just — it’s pretty amazing, really.”

Lomison recalled a block festival that was held when he was younger in the ‘60s and ‘70s in early July but that eventually fizzled out in the late ‘70s. He estimated it was started up again in the early ‘90s and has since evolved into a full event.

“It’s something that I pledged when my father and mother passed, that I would continue to do this as long as I’m able, and I’m still able — I hope for many more years. … It’s just something that we enjoy doing. The church in Orviston is active in helping; the church members are most of my committee, that’s the people that help us make it happen,” he said.

“We’re proud of it. We truly are.”

Tor Michael McCartney has a camp in Orviston, where he also has deep family ties. His grandfather worked in Orviston at the boarding house, which still stands in town today. Given his family’s roots, they jumped at the opportunity to purchase a camp there. Between the atmosphere, neighbors and nature, he said he “can’t say enough good things about Orviston.”

He and his family look forward to the Orviston Celebration every year.

“It’s a wonderful mountain festival. They have great family entertainment and a great fireworks display, and it’s a place for everyone to come home and see each other,” McCartney said. “And it sounds very simple, but I have to say it’s very unique because most of the folks that do come there — and hundreds and hundreds, if not thousands come — have some sort of connection, just like I do with my grandfather, to Orviston.”

To see everyone come home to Orviston, you can see the impact the tiny community has had on Centre County over the years, he said.

The Orviston Celebration quite literally takes place in Ralph Flanagan’s backyard on Main Street. His backyard used to be center field for the old baseball field and behind his house is the pavilion and stage for the Orviston celebration.

He also has deep roots in Orviston; he lived there when he was young and although his family moved to the Washington, D.C. area, he spent holidays and summers in Orviston with his aunt and uncle. About 12 years after he and his wife, Carol, got married, they bought his grandfather’s house in 1982 and have spent a lot of time there since.

His grandfather, Fred Young, was one of the original people who started Orviston, Flanagan said. At the time, his house was the only privately owned piece of ground in that part of the town, as Orviston was a company town.

The brickyard and the church — which still has services today — used to be the main activity generators in town. The brickyard had a baseball team and a summer festival, and the church often had other events throughout the summer and other months.

But since then, the population has dwindled and there’s not much around.

“The people that are here, it’s a very quiet and tight community, really. I mean, if you need any help, somebody will help you. Doesn’t matter what it is,” Flanagan said.

It took a while for the ATV park to take off, but now on weekends there’s a train of trucks and trailers coming into Orviston, hauling ATVs, he said.

Visiting outside of the celebration

Driving into Orviston feels almost like entering another world. There’s one paved road that leads to the town, there are only a few streets and everyone knows everyone — and their dogs. The cell service is spotty to non-existent, but the community doesn’t mind. In fact, Flanagan said, some prefer it that way.

Flanagan runs a Facebook page about the town, “Orviston, Pennsylvania 16864,” and the page’s description sums the town up well: “Orviston is where the paved road ends and the fun begins! However, Orviston, is not necessarily the end of the road!”

Flanagan explained in a phone interview: “It’s literally at the end of the road because Old Pennsylvania 364 comes to Orviston and ends, and all the other roads out of town are dirt roads out of the mountain.”

So, to visit Orviston outside of the celebration, you should probably already have a game plan in place, Lomison said.

“When you go to Orviston, already know what you want to do because there’s really nothing to do. You can go fishing, you can go kayaking, you can go swimming. It is in the middle of the woods. There’s no businesses to patronize — I mean, there used to be when we grew up — but yeah, you have to come prepared,” he said.

A lot of the homes in Orviston have become cabins and people come on the weekends to ride ATVs on the trails and enjoy other outdoor activities.

“There’s really nothing there but the memories for a lot of us,” Lomison said. But, “it comes to life when we have the celebration.”