by Rick Bavera

Created on: February 19, 2009   Last Updated: June 13, 2009

Indiana, PA is a wonderful place to live. It has a rural setting in western Pennsylvania, and has a population of around 15,000 within the town limits, and about that many more in the surrounding township. It is about 50 miles northeast of Pittsburgh-close enough to go into the city to take advantage of things like the Carnegie Museums and Library, take in a Steelers, Pirates or Penguins (football, baseball, hockey) game, or visit the Pittsburgh Zoo, have a meal of a sandwich topped with cole slaw and fries from Primanti Brothers, or take in a live concert or play, and still be home before midnight.

There are great things about the town of Indiana itself, too.

It bills itself as the Christmas Tree Capital of the World. Christmas tree farming began here in 1918, and thousands of trees are grown, cut, and shipped locally and nationally every year.

It is the birthplace of two famous sons: Jimmy Stewart, star of many movies, including It's A Wonderful Life, Harvey, The Philadelphia Story and Rear Window; and Edward Abbey, author of such books as The Monkey Wrench Gang, Jonathan Troy and The Fool's Progress.

The local public library, the Indiana Free Library, shares its premises with the Jimmy Stewart Museum, which has showings of Stewart's movies and sponsors an annual Stewart festival, at which further Stewart films are shown, and there is an honoring of an person with ties to Jimmy Stewart.

Indiana University of Pennsylvania is located here, and has an enrollment of approximately 14,000. The sports teams are known as the Crimson Hawks.

There are Amish communities nearby, as well as Punxsutawney, the home of the prognosticating groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil of Groundhog Day fame.

Many outdoor activities are available, including camping, hunting, fishing and boating. Yellow Creek State Park is 10 miles to the east of town, and it is a great place for swimming and boating, as well as having a picnic. During blueberry and raspberry picking seasons, you can stop at Stutzman's Blueberry Hill farm, near the park, to pick your own blueberries and raspberries.

There are many farms in the area, including dairy farms like Brookside Dairy, a "century farm" that has been in the same family for 200 years-an impressive fact considering the county government has been in existence only since 1803. Brookside has become a local leader in producing almost all their own electricity from bio-fuel (methane) from the cows that also produce the milk they sell.

Indiana, PA is a quiet but vibrant place. A great place for families, singles, and students. It is home.

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