‘For a small town, we have everything’: What makes this Centre County borough unique in Pa.

Millheim Borough at a glance

Population: 831 (based on 2020 U.S. Census)

Landmarks: Millheim Historic District

Where to eat/drink: Elk Creek Cafe + Aleworks, Meandering Mallard Coffee House, Millheim Fireman’s Club, Millheim Hotel, OIP Millheim, Pisano Winery, Super Duper Cafe

What else to do there: Listening to live music, picnicking, cycling, shopping, swimming (community pool), watching ducks/enjoying nature

More info: millheimborough.net

Millheim is a unique small town — for a lot of reasons.

By boasting both a brewery and winery, for instance, it belongs to a highly exclusive club. It is the only municipality in the state with a population under 900 that has both — at least according to an AI-assisted research tool that cross-referenced locations with populations.

“For a small town, we have everything,” said local business owner Linda Egelhoff, who’s worked in Millheim for more than a decade. “We have two coffee shops, a winery, a brewery, a hotel, a fireman’s hall — and we get a lot of great live music out here.”

Millheim, about 30 miles east of State College, sees the convergence of a lot of viewpoints. A rainbow-colored Pride flag flies across the street from a gun shop. A no-frills tavern known for its wings and fresh-cut fries, Millheim Hotel, offers a fresh lobster special once a month — an ongoing practice a camo-wearing customer swore by.

Some locals touted Millheim’s blue-collar, hard-working persona while others pointed out the large collection of creative types — artists, writers and musicians. And several mentioned the Amish, who still make their way down Main Street on a horse and buggy.

No political party has a majority in Millheim, a municipal rarity in Centre County. Based on 2021 figures, the last time the number of registered independents was readily available, Millheim’s political makeup was 48% Republican, 39% Democrat and 13% independent.

“I’ve never seen so many people who could get in arguments and fights and then share a drink together the next day,” mused Robert Zeigler, a Millheim councilman who’s lived there for more than a decade and emphasized the friendly-but-honest nature of the town.

A few minutes later, while arriving at a crosswalk at Millheim’s lone stoplight, vehicles in opposite directions still waved on pedestrians — despite the light turning green.

“That’s our small town for you,” Zeigler said with a laugh.

Renaissance & role of business

Millheim was a much different community between the 1970s and 1990s, after the mills left and other businesses followed. Even surrounded by pastoral scenery that looked as if it were stolen from a Bob Ross painting, few visitors cared to take a 30-minute drive to see a town filled with empty storefronts and a strip club (which has now long been closed).

But a community effort in the ‘90s, aimed at beautifying the borough, began turning things around. And, in 2007, the opening of brewery/restaurant Elk Creek Cafe + Aleworks kicked that revitalization into high gear.

Before “farm-to-table” was a phrase on every restaurant’s menu, Elk Creek scrawled daily specials in colorful chalk and outlined where — locally — most ingredients came from. Before microbreweries appeared in most every town, Elk Creek established itself when Pennsylvania had fewer than 90. (It has more than 400 today.)

Elk Creek became a destination and, by extension, so did Millheim. If other businesses followed the mills in departing, then other businesses followed the brewery in arriving.

Today, the borough with fewer than 1,000 residents is home to a veterinary office, two chiropractors, a barber/hair stylist, an insurance salesman and an attorney’s office. Two coffee shops sit on Main Street, along with several places to eat, a well-regarded butcher shop, an antique shop, a bank, post office, fire department and more.

Millheim is an anomaly. Councilman Robert Zeigler said the small town can stake a claim to the fastest internet in the county. At the very least, the borough that appeared to be on life support 40 years ago now has two fiber cable household providers. Borough buildings are also fully powered by a nearby solar array. And the 1.3-square-mile town even has its own community pool and three parks.

Looking closer at places to eat, shop

Elk Creek Cafe + Aleworks is the last place Penn State fans would want to watch a game — and that’s by design. There are no TVs there.

Proprietor Tim Bowser has often said his vision was to create a community gathering place that fostered discussion. Local art still hangs on the walls — and remains for sale — and musical acts typically perform twice a week in the summer. (Once on Thursdays inside the restaurant and then once on the weekend at a nearby outdoor venue, which was created in response to the pandemic.)

But, for visitors looking to enjoy some adult beverages, Elk Creek isn’t the only game in town.

Pisano Winery, which is just 255 feet from Elk Creek, opened in 2019. The small-batch winery, which imports grapes from California and juice from Italy, offers more than a dozen varieties with its best-sellers being a cabernet sauvignon and pinot.

With plenty of outdoor seating, and a homey front-porch environment, some locals chatted and watched the waddling ducks on a recent afternoon while a few others sipped on cocktails and wine inside.

“We always thought this would be a fun thing to do,” said Andy Pisano, who runs the business with his wife and son. “And we started making wine and enjoying wine at our house and decided let’s try it. ... I think the location suits us very well. It’s got a great mix of people.”

About 400 feet from the winery is the Millheim Hotel, which can trace its roots to 1794. The business houses a dining room, bar and, of course, hotel rooms. (One employee said they tend to get more fishermen than Penn State fans when it comes to overnight stays.)

Besides the wings and fries, patrons recommended the Buffalo chicken wrap. But it’s the $3 fresh-cut fries and the 20-plus wing flavors that keep customers coming back.

Along Main Street, right next to each other, is the Super Duper Cafe and Meandering Mallard Coffee House.

Meandering Mallard offers home-baked goods, hot and cold drinks, and a simple menu comprised of breakfast items under $6 and lunch sandwiches $12 and under. Super Duper Cafe, which touts its “relaxed and welcome” atmosphere, also offers coffee and tea — in addition to pastries, smoothies and nutritious foods.

Two of Millheim’s longtime businesses, which predate Elk Creek, include OIP Millheim and the Penns Valley Meat Market. OIP is the local pizza joint that often recognizes the familiar voices ordering over the phone, while the meat market sells homemade scrapple and offers “box” deals with different cuts that residents have long appreciated.

The newest business is an antique shop named Millheim Portal, which opened in June and took over the space occupied by Green Drake Gallery and Arts Center.

The three-floor shop sells antiques and handmade wares from about a dozen different vendors, from costume jewelry that starts at $1 to a mid-century bedroom suite for $2,700. Other items range from locally handmade soaps to a local photographer’s works to an authentic Bamana mask from Africa.

“There’s new stuff and antiques and different things altogether,” said Linda Egelhoff, who co-owns the store with Angela Smith and was helped by Torri Withrow. “We have ‘fancy’ stuff and affordable stuff.”

Elsewhere in Millheim, where most everything sits along Main Street, there’s also Trail2Creek Bike Shop and Rad Wheels Skate Shop — among even more businesses.

Embracing history

The Millheim Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. Take a short walk through Main Street — and it’s clear why.

On most buildings, an off-white plaque describes what each structure once housed. The Penns Valley Veterinary Clinic? Around 1898, that building was home to the C.H. Breon Bicycle Shop and R.S. Stover (Jeweler). Rad Wheels Skate Shop? That was J.C. Motz Banking Co. around the 1870s, before becoming the post office around 1875 and Miller’s Cigar Factory around 1890.

One freshly painted building, with a “Commercial Building Permit” taped to the front door, used to be the German School around 1794. The current bank was, around 1825, the site of Jacob Bollinger’s General Store and the post office. The list goes on.

There aren’t many roads in Millheim, but history is down just about each and every one.

On Penn Street, for example, a local family continues to clean and renovate the 1920s era Millheim Theatre, which contained a 374-seat auditorium — enough to hold nearly half the community — but remains closed for now. (Local children still stop by on Halloween for a small bag of popcorn.) Across the street is a clocktower and church, now known as Calvary Penns Valley, that one official said is more than 150 years old.

Millheim was officially established as a borough in 1879, but it can trace its roots back to 1771. More than 250 years ago, according to the Centre County Historical Society, an ironmaster cut a road from the Susquehanna River to Penns Valley — and one settler built two mills on Elk Creek.

Other German settlers, and some Scottish settlers, soon followed. And, per the historical society, the town then became known as Mill Heim, which is German for “Home of the Mills.”

It escalated from there. More businesses were established, a turnpike chartered, schools and churches founded, and it thrived after the Civil War. In the 1940s, the Millheim Knitting Mill even employed 300 workers in the small town.

But by 1969, the mill had closed and the town slowly began to flounder — until community members pledged to clean up Millheim in the 1990s.

The remnants of all that history are still packed in most every nook and cranny in the borough. Even the millrace, a channel that directs water to and from mills’ water wheels, still runs parallel to Main Street — and seems to attract ducks unbothered by people.

The mills have long since gone from Millheim, but the people — and businesses — don’t appear to be leaving anytime soon.