User:Boal Museum/Columbus Chapel

A glimpse into American identity awaits travelers in the historic village of Boalsburg, Pennsylvania. Eight generations of the Boal family have lived the story of America, and even have a tangible family connection with the world's most famous explorer, Christopher Columbus.

Up a long gravel driveway of the two-century-old Boal Estate beneath the ancient oak and maple trees, are family memorabilia, authentic and intact, that include a lock of hair of Napoleon, an Admiral's Desk that belonged to Christopher Columbus and two pieces of wood from the cross on which Jesus Christ died.

The Boals were on the cutting edge of the defining issues of their time. David Boal, the founder of the site, was a Scottish-Irish pioneer seeking cheap land and freedom. After escaping from Ireland in 1798 after the failed United Irishmen rebellion against the English, he built a tavern at the frontier crossroad in 1804 around which grew up the village of Boalsburg in 1809. He purchased the present site of the Boal Estate in 1809. His son George in 1852 was one of the founders of Penn State University, home of the famous Nittany Lions football team. All of these institutions -- the Boal Estate, Boalsburg village, Penn State – remain vital to the community today.

The fourth generation, Theodore Davis Boal, benefited from industrial fortunes amassed by the third generation. He studied architecture in Europe where he married a French-Spanish aristocrat, Mathilde de Lagarde, a descendant of the famous Christopher Columbus.

In 1909 Terry and Mathilde inherited and imported to their American estate the chapel of the Columbus family, including an admiral’s desk said by the family to have belonged to the famous explorer himself. Fifteenth century religious statues, sixteenth century Renaissance paintings and 165,000 pages of Columbus family documents dating back to the 1450’s await the visitor in the Chapel.

The visit also includes the Boal Mansion with the original furnishings as well as three exhibit rooms displaying 19th century carriages and tools, and weapons from both the last three centuries in America and from medieval times in Europe.

The site is now a museum open to the public. Visitors information can be found at the site's web site http://boalmuseum.com.