DANVILLE SLOVAK GIRLS ACAD TWR

I certainly didn’t expect to find any benchmarks on today’s visit to Danville. But while we were waiting in the exam room at the Geisinger hospital, Dad looked out the window and said, “Wow, look at that tower over there! Pretty amazing.” One look and something struck me about it. I was pretty sure that it was a landmark station I had noticed on the NGS map at one point.

Still waiting for the doctor to arrive, I searched the NGS website on my phone and confirmed that it was indeed an old landmark station.

I figured it was the last thing Dad would have in mind for today, but he said “When we’re done here, let’s drive over and check it out.” I was up for that as long as he was! He is always such a good sport.

So after his appointment, we drove over to the grounds, where I took a few photos of the tower, building, and the grounds.

The original building on this site, a mansion built by iron magnate John Grove in 1867 for his two sons, Michael and John, Jr., was abandoned in 1905 and eventually listed for sale. It was purchased in 1919 by the Congregation of the Sisters of Saints Cyril and Methodius, an order established in 1909 to preserve the culture of Slovak immigrants and to educate their children. The Sisters opened a school in the former mansion in 1922. The school, originally named the First Catholic Slovak Girls Academy and later renamed Saint Cyril Academy, provided educational facilities for young women across the United States and abroad until it closed in 1999. There is still a school on site, however: Saint Cyril Preschool and Kindergarten continues to provide early childhood education.

The initial success of the school led to the need for a new school building, and ground was broken for this new structure—the one we see on the site today—in 1929. The stone tower that served as the landmark station, first observed by NGS in 1958, was part of that newly-built structure.