Celestia

Overview

Waiting for the Lord on the plateau

In the 1850s Peter Armstrong and his wife, millennialists who expected the Second Coming soon, settled a plateau west of Laporte to live together and wait. The 1940 state guide dates the founding to 1853. Armstrong's house, finished by 1860, was the heart of the place: offices, a store run by Hannah Armstrong and a printing press on the ground floor, an auditorium for meetings and services above. Boarding houses for the faithful stood across Pine Street, with an apple orchard behind them, a big L-shaped barn for the farm work, a spring and reservoir up the hill, and a dammed lake that powered a mill and fed a brickworks.

It never grew large. A 1951 article by a family member describes a house always full of wandering, mostly penniless disciples, with only one other family staying for good. In the 1860s Armstrong deeded the land to "Almighty God." God paid no taxes, so the county sold it, and the Armstrong family bought it back at a tax sale in the 1870s. Sources split on the end. The historical society says the community was mostly abandoned by the time Armstrong died in 1887; the 1951 article says he died of a stroke crossing the road in front of his store; the 1940 state guide says he went back to Philadelphia.

The historical society now owns the site and keeps a marked walking tour of what is left. The 1940 guide put the plateau four miles west of Laporte; the society, both state markers and the old maps put it about a mile and a half west, on PA 42.

Timeline

A village deeded to God

1. 1850sPeter Armstrong and his wife found a millennialist community on the plateau west of Laporte. The 1940 state guide gives 1853.
2. By 1860Armstrong's house is finished: offices, a store run by Hannah Armstrong and a printing press below, an auditorium for meetings and services above.
3. 1860sArmstrong deeds the land to God. The 1940 state guide dates the recorded deed to 1864; a later account gives 1860 to 1872.
4. 1870sGod pays no taxes. The county sells the land, and the Armstrong family buys it back at a tax sale.
5. 1887Peter Armstrong dies. By then the community is mostly abandoned.
6. 1951A state marker for Celestia goes up on US 220 northeast of Laporte. A writer that July finds only a hollow where the house stood, an empty pool, stone walls and fruit trees.
7. 1999A second marker is dedicated on PA 42 at the site, on October 22.
8. TodayThe Sullivan County Historical Society owns and maintains the site, with a marked walking tour of the foundations.

What's left

What you'll see

Park in the marked area off PA 42 by the state historical marker; the society gives the turn as 41.42297, -76.52448, just before the sign when you come south on Route 42. A short walk brings you to Front Street, which was Route 42 until the present road was built and paved after the Second World War. The society's walking tour then follows Pine Street through the village, with numbered stops keyed to a painting of Celestia in the museum in Laporte.

On Pine Street you pass the foundation of Armstrong's house, with traces of a barn and small pond behind it, then the sites of the boarding houses where the apple orchard once stood (no trees remain). Farther on, by a large maple, is the foundation hole of the L-shaped barn. Up the hill west of the Front and Pine intersection are the main spring and reservoir; the spring is still flowing. Across the highway lies Celestial Lake, the community's millpond, now private. Right on Pine Street, trails cross private land to Loyalsock Creek by Shanerburg Run or Pole Bridge Run.

The 1953 Eagles Mere sheet below labels Celestial Lake beside Route 42 west of Laporte, and the 1969 sheet shows the lake just south of the highway at the townsite. Today's topo adds the Merritt Field airstrip to the west.

• Foundation of Peter Armstrong's house (finished by 1860)
• Traces of a barn and small pond
• Boarding-house sites on Pine Street
• Foundation hole of the L-shaped barn
• Main spring and reservoir, still flowing
• Celestial Lake (private; view from PA 42)
• Old Front Street and Pine Street lines
• State historical marker (1999)

Historic maps

Celestia on USGS maps, 1927–1993

Crops from the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection, centered on the townsite. Each sheet shows what surveyors mapped that year; compare them with today's topo and aerial on this page.

19271:48,00019321:62,50019531:62,50019691:24,00019931:24,000

Map & directions

Getting there

Laporte, the county seat, is a few minutes east. Follow Main Street (PA 42) west out of town. From Williamsport, take US 220 east to PA 42 and follow it to the site.

Base map: USGS The National Map (public domain). Routes: OSRM on © OpenStreetMap contributors data (ODbL), computed October 2026. Times assume dry roads.

Directions go to the turn into the Celestia parking area on PA 42, where the drive ends, not to the townsite.

Photos

Have photos of Celestia?

We haven’t added photographs of Celestia yet. If you’ve visited, share your photos and a field report below.

The Sullivan County Historical Society's museum in Laporte holds a painting of Celestia in its heyday; its walking tour is keyed to it.

Visitor reports

Been to Celestia?

Been there lately? Tell the next visitor what you found: whether you could get in, the state of the road and what's still standing. Photos are welcome. We read every report before it appears here.

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Nearby

Other sites near Celestia

Straight-line distance from the townsite to other mapped sites in our Pennsylvania index.

• Ricketts13.0 mi E · Sullivan
• Laquin15.9 mi NW · Bradford
• Masten16.4 mi W · Lycoming
• Barclay17.0 mi N · Bradford
• Fallbrook29.6 mi NW · Tioga
• Alvira29.9 mi SW · Union
• Concrete City32.7 mi SE · Luzerne
• Centralia43.8 mi S · Columbia

Sources

Sources and credits

1. Sullivan County PA Historical Society and Museum, "Celestia", read October 2026: open year round, the founding in the 1850s, the 1860s deed to God, the 1870s tax sale and repurchase, Armstrong's death in 1887, the GPS point and parking directions, private property, the marked walking tour.
2. Sullivan County Historical Society, "Walking Tour Guide" of Celestia: Front Street as the old Route 42, Pine Street, the Armstrong house (finished by 1860) and its uses, the boarding houses and orchard, the L-shaped barn, the spring and reservoir, Celestial Lake, the mill and brickworks, the trails to Loyalsock Creek.
3. Sullivan County PA GenWeb, Sullivan County Historical Society page: the society's ownership, the millennialists, the land deeded to God and bought back at a sheriff's sale, the site 1 1/2 miles west of Laporte on Route 42.
4. M.M.A. (Michael Mylert Armstrong), "Celesta at Its Best," Now and Then, July 1951: the spelling Celesta, the disciples, the buildings, Armstrong's death crossing the road, what was left in 1951.
5. Wikipedia, "Laporte, Pennsylvania", quoting the 1940 Pennsylvania Guide: founded in 1853 by Peter Armstrong and his wife, the deed to "Almighty God" recorded in 1864, the plateau "four miles west of Laporte," Armstrong's return to Philadelphia, the land taken for taxes.
6. Wikipedia, "List of Pennsylvania state historical markers in Sullivan County": the two Celestia markers (PA 42, October 22, 1999; US 220, July 12, 1951) and their coordinates.
7. Wikipedia, "List of ghost towns in Pennsylvania": Celestia, Sullivan County, a religious community of millennialists.
8. Geocaching.com, "Celestia" (GCP8MM), hidden June 10, 2005, now archived: the parking area and its coordinates, the mowed path, the deed to God from 1860 to 1872.
9. ghosttowns.com, "Celestia": foundations and dirt streets, the land deeded to God, the road, climate and best time.
10. Historic maps: USGS Eagles Mere sheets of 1927 (1:48,000), 1932 and 1953 (1:62,500), 1969 and 1993 (1:24,000). Current topographic map and aerial imagery: USGS The National Map.
11. Elevation: USGS 3D Elevation Program point query. Routes: OSRM on OpenStreetMap data, October 2026.

Photo and map credits

• Topo map, area base map and aerial imagery: USGS The National Map (public domain).
• Historic maps: USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection (public domain): Eagles Mere 1927, 1:48,000; Eagle Mere 1932, 1:62,500; Eagles Mere 1953, 1:62,500; Eagles Mere 1969, 1:24,000; Eagles Mere 1993, 1:24,000.