Celestia
Laporte Township, Sullivan County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
Peter E. Armstrong founded a religious community here in 1850. He envisioned his followers as "wilderness exiles" in a "City of Heaven" on this mountaintop. In 1864 the land was deeded to Almighty God "and to His heirs in Jesus Messiah." Because of the "owner's" nonpayment of taxes, the county sold the land in 1876 to A.T. Armstrong, Peter's son. Peter Armstrong himself struggled to continue this community before he died in 1887.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
In 1850 Peter E. Armstrong founded Celestia on this remote mountaintop, envisioning his followers as 'wilderness exiles' preparing a 'City of Heaven' for the millennium. In 1864 he took the extraordinary step of deeding the land to Almighty God 'and to His heirs in Jesus Messiah' â a title the county could not tax, leading it to sell the property in 1876 to Armstrong's own son. Peter struggled to sustain his religious utopia until his death in 1887, and the settlement faded into the woods.
Why it matters
Celestia belongs to the great 19th-century wave of American utopian and communal religious experiments, and its literal deed to God remains one of the most striking expressions of that visionary impulse.
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Related people
- ¡ Peter E. Armstrong
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Sullivan County
Laporte, PA ¡ est. 1982
Sullivan County was created in 1847 out of Lycoming County, taking its name from state senator Charles C. Sullivan, who pushed for its formation. Laporte became the county seat in 1853. In the wooded highlands here, Eagles Mere grew into a celebrated mountain resort and Worlds End became a beloved state park.
Pennsdale Meeting
Muncy Township, PA ¡ est. 1947
By 1799 enough members of the Society of Friends had settled this stretch of the West Branch valley to build a proper meeting house for worship. Quakers were among the earliest organized communities to plant themselves on the central Pennsylvania frontier, and their plain meeting house anchored a growing settlement in the decades after the Revolution.
Muncy
Muncy Creek Township, PA ¡ est. 1952
Laid out in 1799 by Benjamin McCarty, Muncy took its name from the Munsee, a band of the Delaware (Lenape) who inhabited the West Branch Susquehanna valley before European settlement. The place had long been a hub of movement: four important Indian paths â the Shamokin, Wyalusing, Wyoming, and Towanda â met near here. The new town simply formalized a junction that Native travelers had used for generations.
Muncy
Muncy, PA ¡ est. 1952
The town of Muncy was laid out in 1799 by Benjamin McCarty in the fertile West Branch Susquehanna country. Its name honors the Munsee, a division of the Delaware (Lenape) who lived here before white settlement. The site was a natural crossroads long before the town existed, where four great Indian paths â the Shamokin, Wyalusing, Wyoming, and Towanda â came together.