James Irvin (February 18, 1800 – November 28, 1862) was an American politician. Irvin was a prominent agriculturalist and ironmaster in

Centre County Centre County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 158,172. Its county seat is Bellefonte. Centre County comprises the State College, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area. History The lands ...

, Pennsylvania. Irvin represented in the 27th and 28th Congresses. Irvin unsuccessfully ran for

governor of Pennsylvania A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

in 1847, losing to incumbent governor

Francis Rawn Shunk Francis Rawn Shunk (August 7, 1788 – July 20, 1848) was the tenth governor of Pennsylvania from 1845 to 1848. Early career Shunk was born on August 7, 1788 in Trappe, Pennsylvania, to a poor farming family of German American, German descent. H ...

Biography

In 1855, the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania chartered the Farmer's High School. The school's trustees decided to build the school on of Centre County land donated by Irvin. That Farmer's High School is now The

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvan ...

.
Irvin Hall
one of Penn State's oldest residential halls, named in his honor. Irvin died in Hecla, Centre County, Pennsylvania, on November 28, 1862. He is buried in Union Cemetery in

Bellefonte, Pennsylvania Bellefonte is a borough in, and the county seat of, Centre County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It is approximately twelve miles northeast of State College and is part of the State College, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area. The boro ...

. The

Oak Hall Historic District Oak Hall Historic District is a national historic district located at College Township, Centre County, Pennsylvania. The district includes 17 contributing buildings and 3 contributing structures in Oak Hall. The district includes the mansion ho ...

, associated with his dwelling in

College Township, Pennsylvania College Township is a township in Centre County, Pennsylvania. It is part of the State College, Pennsylvania metropolitan statistical area. The population was 10,780 at the 2020 census, which was a 13.2% increase from the 2010 census. College ...

, was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1979. Also on the Register is the

Monroe Furnace The Monroe Furnace is a national historic district and historic iron furnace that are located in Barree Township in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989. History and architectural ...

, which he established in 1847.

References

Bibliography

External links

The Political Graveyard
1800 births 1862 deaths American ironmasters Pennsylvania State University people People from Centre County, Pennsylvania American agriculturalists Burials in Pennsylvania Whig Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania 19th-century American politicians {{Pennsylvania-Representative-stub