As the "County Seat" of Potter County, PA, Coudersport lies in a broad valley at the confluence of the Allegheny River and Mill Creek. It is surrounded by the great hilltop plateau of the Allegheny highlands. Highways enter north and south on Pennsylvania Route 44, the very old Jersey Shore (log road) Turnpike, and from west to east on U.S. Route 6, the "Grand Army of the Republic Highway", which had been long a major mid-east-states east-west corridor before the construction of Interstate highways which began in the late 1950s. The most noted hilltops, located here on this plateau, are Dutch Hill, stretching to the southeast, and Vader Hill, stretching to the southwest. The Allegheny River makes a quick turn at this point, going from north to west; for that reason, these features are distinctly individual from afar in the broad turning valley, and rise 2400–2500 feet above sea-level.
Coudersport is home to a Scottish Rite Consistory. With approximately 3000 members, Coudersport's Consistory has the largest per-capita membership of any Scottish Rite Consistory.[32]
The newly re-opened Ice Mine is a popular tourist attraction in Coudersport. The mine freezes with ice in the summer, and the ice melts in the winter.[33]
Coudersport was the home of "Untouchable" Eliot Ness at the time of his death. He was a principal in the Guaranty Paper Corporation, which specialized in watermarking legal & official documents to prevent counterfeiting. The company moved from Cleveland to Coudersport around 1955 because operating costs were lower. Ness, with his wife and son, were living in the Brocklebank home from 1956-57. Ness died there from a heart attack in May 1957.[citation needed]
Located in the northern portion of Coudersport is the Coudersport Area Recreation Park (CARP). This sports and recreation park was established in the 1960s by a group of town leaders including Dr. William L. Mitchell, a local veterinarian. It currently has a football field with track & field capabilities, baseball and softball fields, basketball courts, picnic areas and hiking trails.
According to historical books at the Penn State University Park library, Coudersport derived its name from a Dutchman named Couder who was a primary funder for the surveying of the future town as a "port" on the Allegheny River, thus becoming Couder's Port.
Coudersport was the former headquarters of Adelphia, which at its peak was the 5th largest cable provider in the United States.[34] The company went bankrupt due to internal corruption in 2002, and the headquarters were moved to Colorado a few years later.[35]
The fictional town of Farringdon, depicted in the Judy Bolton detective series by Margaret Sutton, is based on Coudersport, where Sutton grew up and attended school.[36] The school, town hall, and several recognizable residences are described in her books. Judy Bolton Days, an annual festival honoring the books of the late Sutton, is hosted each October by the local Chamber of Commerce.
Radio stations WNG591 (a NOAA Weather Radio outlet programmed out of State College) and WFRM (a locally programmed AM radio station, 600 kHz) are licensed to Coudersport. The former WFRM-FM, 96.7 MHz, was licensed to Coudersport for much of its existence but was later reallocated to Portville, New York. The local newspaper, the Potter Leader-Enterprise, is published out of Coudersport.
Coudersport is located near Cherry Springs State Park, which features some of the darkest skies near the East Coast. This means the town is a prominent destination for stargazers.[37]
We use cookies to analyze website traffic and optimize your website experience. By accepting our use of cookies, your data will be aggregated with all other user data.