50th in a series
|
 |
Before there was the Nittany Lion mascot, there was Old Coaly the mule, although students never officially adopted him as a Penn State symbol. They held him in high esteem nonetheless, and he figured in many colorful undergraduate tales. Coaly came to Penn State from Kentucky in 1857 and hauled stone and other materials that were used in the construction of Old Main. He had an extraordinary capacity for work, and for some 30 years handled many landscaping and farm chores around the campus, as shown here, where he is pulling a lawn mower near Old Main. Coaly was so beloved that after his death in 1893, his skeleton was preserved as a relic of Penn State's past. It has had many resting places over the years but none so appropriate, or so public, as where he resides today, on the first floor of the HUB, the student union building. See Coaly's remains and learn more about him at http://www.psu.edu/ur/about/markers/others/coaly.html
|
|
