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The one institution that contributed a measure of distinction for Bellefonte during the 19th and 20th centuries was the Bellefonte Academy. The interest directed by the founders of Bellefonte, James Dunlop and James Harris, toward an institution of learning, inspired others to help make possible the establishment of the Academy. When Centre County was organized by Act of February 13, 1800, provision was made for "the support of an academy or public school in the said County of Centre:. On January 8, 1805, Bellefonte Academy was incorporated by Act of the Pennsylvania Legislature and a cherished dream, the establishment of an Academy, was realized. The Bellefonte Academy continued as a prominent educational feature through the 1930's. "The Bellefonte Academy has educated more governors, more senators, more judges, and more public men ... than any other school in Pennsylvania," (The Philadelphia North American, 1909). Many of the areas leaders for the years to come received their early education at the Academy.
From Reverend H. R. Wilson, the Academy's first headmaster, to Reverend James Potter Hughes of Cape May, New Jersey, who became headmaster in 1868 and his son James R Hughes, who took over in 1895, the Academy steadily increased it's reputation as a quality educational institution, first regionally and ultimately nation wide.
Much can be said about the contributions of both Reverends James Linn, one of the Academy's earliest and staunchest supporters, and James P. Hughes, to the growth, prestige and educational quality of Bellefonte Academy. A combined 95 years of service was provided by both individuals. But, James R. Hughes was solely responsible for the greatest fame the Academy would ever know.
From 1885, until the Academy closed it's doors in 1934 due to financial pressures, James Robert Hughes lived and breathed the Bellefonte Academy.
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