Early Bible
Somerset, Somerset County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
In a log cabin located on this site, Charles Frederick Goeb printed a Bible in 1813. It was the first Bible printed west of the Allegheny Mountains.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
In 1813, in a log cabin on this spot, printer Charles Frederick Goeb produced what is remembered as the first Bible printed west of the Allegheny Mountains. Getting a printing press — and the paper, type, and skill to run it — across the mountains was no small feat on the early frontier, where books were scarce and precious. A Bible off a local press meant a community had crossed a threshold from raw settlement toward established cultural life.
Why it matters
It marks a milestone in the westward spread of printing and literacy, showing how the tools of American cultural life followed settlers over the mountains.
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Related people
- · Charles Frederick Goeb
Themes & tags
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