Nine thousand souls in an old, old town: pre-Columbian settlers were here in 12000 BCE, but didn’t do much to improve the place. Wikipedia:

Lock Haven began in 1833 as a timber town and a haven for loggers, boatmen, and other travelers on the river or the West Branch Canal. Resource extraction and efficient transportation financed much of the city's growth through the end of the 19th century. In the 20th century, a light-aircraft factory, a college, and a paper mill, along with many smaller enterprises, drove the economy.

This is the town whose paper we perused yesterday. It feels very old and very East-Coast in its downtown density.

The Roxy! Every town should have a Roxy. Cinema Treasures:

Built in 1924 by George Huff as the Dreamland Theatre, later renamed the State Theatre in 1928, and finally became Roxy Theatre in 1931.

It suffered a flood in 36, which provided an opportunity for remodeling. Take a look at the interior. Sigh.

Next door:

The Garden Theater. It was damaged in the '36 and '72 flood.

Gummint offices now. 

On Sundays the spires go up and down all through the service, powering the organ. They never stop in quite the same place!

By the way, speaking of floods . . .

I’m no hydrologist, but wouldn’t the water just spill over this point and make the levees useless?

Ah, no, there’s a slot for adding extra protection. I assume they put in the last segment well in advance, and no one’s struggling at the last moment, or looking for the keys to the shed where they keep it.

By the way, this entire area is a historical zone known as the Water Street District. Well, yeah.

Two eras of storefront rehab. The one on the right was for classy places like fur stores. The plainer, the classier.

DECKER.

There’s a lot of this downtown; Local businesses that have a useful purpose; nice sidewalks; well-maintained brick. Nothing that stands out, architecturally, but the whole is satisfying. .

There’s a brute.

And another: it was a two-and-done kinda town when it came to Roman columns.

f you’re going to lie about the facade, do it mid block. This is like Toto pulling back the curtain as Oz works the levers.

Finally: an alley, nothing special, but you see the appeal of the place - the long view to the hills, through old parts of town that have taken the worst the river can deal, and still stand.