Highacres highlight
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n life at the Hazleton Campus
tor reminisces ilighacres life
mean the . doctors, the den
tists, and the lawyers that are
in town. At one time there
was a study of it and it was
rather surprising how many
professional people came
back and stayed in town."
As he talks of former alum
ni, he expresses the sadness
he feels when he reads
newspaper clippings Of
former Highacres students
who have become successful,
yet who have neglected to
mention their attendance at
the Hazleton Campus. "After
all," he says, "it isn't the size
of the institution that mat
ters. There are a lot of things
sometimes that develop,
perhaps an exposure, maybe
one or two factors, that might
turn a person's life upside
down. And the next thing you
know, there it is." As he talks
of a person becoming suc
cessful, it appears that he is
content with his affiliation
with Penn State. In fact, a
sketch of the Administration
Building hangs in his living
room.
Like others who - have been
Lek in
Ile he
Is the
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rmer
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ar of
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Building. It was kind of
cramped, but much different
than the classrooms we have
today. Since it was on the
third floor, the ceiling was
slanted on the sides," tells
Caccese. He also tells how
classes were sometimes con
ducted outside. "When it got
warm outside, we couldn't
wait to have class outdoors
because it got hot up in that
small classroom."
The sports program on
campus • was severely
restricted when he attended
here, due largely to the lack
of facilities. "We had a small
athletic field down by, the spot
where the tennis courts are
now," he explains. "We
pled football
and a little softball. But not
much softball because it was
too easy to loose the ball when
it was hit back in the woods.
The only sport we could play
for the college was. basket
ball, since that was the only
sports team we had at the
Hazleton Campus."
Both sports and teaching
are now a part of Tom Cac
cese's life. He is presently a
basketball coach for the Con
dors and a physical education
teacher. He openly talks of
times at Highacres, when he
was a student being taught
and being coached, as the
present students of Penn
State's Hazleton Campus.
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with the Hazleton Campus
over the years, he, has seen
the many changes on cam
pus, and has actually played
an active role in these
changes. When the upper
mansion was torn down, ne
did his best to make sure that
at least some of the area
would be left to future genera
tions. He talks of University
Park's plans for the demoli
tion. "They were going to just
bulldoze the whole thing over
the bank. 'Oh no,' I said, 'You
do that and I'll have a
photographer up there the
next day and raise hell.' I per
sonally told the contractor to
preserve the level area and
the stonework. You can't find
stonework like that
anymore."
When he first came in 1946,
many World War II veterans
were coming to the Hazleton
Campus. As Kostos explains,
"We were giving the veterans
a chance to prove
themselves. And really, it
was the most tremendous
thing that ever happened,
because these were people
Changing from the Markles to Penn State
When the Hazleton Campus
moved to Highacres, many of
its personnel came along
from the original location.
Harry Michaels is an excep
tion to this procedure. He has
been here since the time
before the campus moved to
Highacres.
Michaels was a chauffeur
and handyman for Donald
Markle, the man who lived in
a mansion that existed on the
area near the water tower.
Markle made his fortune
from the Jeddo-Highland
Coal Company, and lived in
his mansion even during the
time that Penn State Univer
sity was occupying the man
sion now known as the Ad
ministration Building.
"They were very good to
me," tells Michaels, con
sidered them as-family." He
lived on the estate until he
built the home he lives in now.
"Even when I worked for the
University, I used to help Mr.
Markle out doing a little han
dy work. But, I really did en
joy working for the Universi
ty."
Even though he was on the
campus a great deal of time,
he could not get really close to
the students. "I got to know
same of them in passing," he
says, "But because of my job,
I really didn't get to know too
many of them very well. They
had their classes during •the
day, and I had my job and I
who were mature. They knew
what they wanted, and they
weren't fresh out of high
school. These were decisions
that they made themselves.
They knew they had to work
hard.and they were beautiful
to work with. You didn't have
to stir them up to do a little bit
of work. That's what they
came for."
In 1946, Penn State had not
yet moved its Hazleton Cam
pus to Highacres. It was
spread around downtown
Hazleton and classes were ac
tually held in an abandoned
and condemned building. "It
was the abandoned, con
demned Hazle Township
School Building ... I'll never
forget. I brought my wife up
to see it, and as I showed her
the place, she started to cry. I
asked her what was wrong
and she told me, 'You don't
mean to say that this is where
you're going to work.' I said
yes, and that was it. That was
the beginning."
Harold Michaels
shift."
Michaels got to know the
whole Markle family during
the time he worked for them.
"Donald Markle had seven
children," he explains, "Four
girls and three boys. His
brother Eckley Markle lived
in what we now call the Ad
ministration Building. Eckley
never married and left
Highacres about a year after
his mother died. It was im
practical for him to continue
living in that mansion and
pay all the help by himself. A
third brother, Alvin moved
away from -Highacres when
he got older."
The name "Highacres" is
actually the name of the
estate that the three Markle
worked
John Coyne tells of
raising a family at Highacres
For many of the students
and faculty, the campus is
like a second home, since
they do spend several hours
each day on campus. For
John Coyne, the campus was
a full-time home, as he not on
ly lived here, but raised a
family here as well.
What makes Coyne's. story
unique is the experience of
raising a family on a college
campus while students attend
there daily. The Coynes lived
in a cottage that stood where
the library is now. When that
was torn down, they moved,
but even before the cottage,
the Coynes lived in an apart
ment in the Memorial
Building, along with students
that lived in dorms there.
"I never had any problems
with the students," tells
Coyne. "We always got
along." His children too, got
to know the students on cam
pus and as he says, "The girls
enjoyed living here although
only one of them wound up go
ing to Penn State for an
brothers' father built. Their
uncle built the upper estate,
which was located near the
area where the water tower is
now.. Many considered the
mansion that stood on this
estate to be even more
beautiful and elaborate than
the Administration Building.
In fact, Michaels talks of the
"Ship Room." "It was a
magnificent, room," he says.
"There was a chandelier
made out of a ship's wheel in
that room. Whatever became
of it I don't know."
The upper estate was
known as Norwinds, short for
Northwinds, in comparison to
the name Highacres. the
namesake of the lower estate
and the current Hazleton
Campus. Norwinds was level
ed by the University after it
determined that it would be
too expensive to maintain the
building. "It had been stan
ding vacant for a couple of
years," recalls Michaels,
"and vandals began to take
their toll on the building so
the University tore it down."
What is left of Norwinds
can still be seen up by the
water tower. The floor of the
_ ship room is still intact,
dominated by the "direction
stone," which reportedly
points to magnetic north.
As Michaels talks of his af
filiation with the Donald
Markle Sr. family, he talks of
the Markle children. "They
John Coyne
education."
"It was a little noisy when
we lived in the apartment
next to the dorms, but we
didn't mind. Their dorm ar
rangement was something
like an army barracks. I used
to take them into town
sometimes for something to
eat, we developed a good rap
port," explains Coyne.
He has three girls and has
no regrets about bringing
them up on a college campus,
except that when they were
very young they really had no
one to play with. Coyne work
ed as a custodian on campus
until his retirement about
seven years ago.
were raised on Norwinds," he
tells. "Mrs. Markle was from
down South, and when she
came up to Hazleton, she
brought her personal maid
along with her. The children
were quite attached to this
maid, as she was now the
cook at Norwinds. Harriet
was her name, and since the
children traveled a lot, they
could never wait to get home
and see Harriet. I remember
when she took ill and had to
go to the hospital. She had
been in there, so Mr. Markle
asked me to take her check up
to her at the hospital. Well,
when I got there, Harriet was
dead. I returned to Norwinds
and gave Mr. Markle the
check and told him that Har
riet had died. He was really
quite broken up about it, but
then again we all were. We all
loved Harriet." .
Harold Michaels finished
out his years at Highacres
after becoming head of the
maintenance department. He
retired about three years ago
He was always proud of Penh
State and proclaims, "I was
their greatest salesman."
That means that he talks good
of the Hazleton Campus
wherever he goes. And why
not? He spent years of his life
watching the estates of
Highacres and Norwinds
change hands from the hands
of the Markles to the hands of
Penn State University.