Pennsylvania
Historical Markers in Perry County
Carson Long Military Institute
CARSON LONG MILITARY INSTITUTE
A military school since 1919, it is the oldest in
Pennsylvania. Originally Bloomfield
Academy, founded in 1837. Owned 1914-21
by Theodore K. Long and renamed as a memorial to his son, William Carson
Long. First building, “The Maples”, was
completed in 1840.
N. Carlisle St. at school, 1 block from Square, New
Bloomfield.
Dedicated May 9, 1987
Carson Long Military Institute is a direct descendent of
Bloomfield Academy which was founded in 1837.
It was started by Robert Finley is New Bloomfield, Pennsylvania as a
Latin school with only six students. In
1840 the school was moved two blocks up the hill to its present location. The first original school building was built
in the same year and is still in use as a reception hall and a museum
In 1842 the trustees decided to make the Academy a
coeducational school. For a short
period of time in the early 1850s, the school was purchased and operated by the
Perry County Commissioners. During the
second half of the 1800s, the Latin academy added a Normal School, which was a
training school for teachers.
1n 1914 the school was purchased by Theodore K. Long, who
graduated from Bloomfield Academy and Yale, and who became a prominent Chicago
lawyer and city councilman. In 1916 he
renamed the school Carson Long Institute as a living memorial to his son,
William Carson Long who died at an early age.
At the time the Academy became an all boys school accepting girls as day
students only for about four more years.
After World War I, Edward L. Holman, a nephew of Colonel Long came back
to his alma mater and started military training in 1919. He also started a life time of 61 years to
build the school into what it is today.
In 1917 he became the Board Chairman and his son, Colonel Carson E. R.
Holman, a graduate of Carson Long and West Point and then became, and now is,
the president of the school.
Carson Long Military Institute is the oldest boarding school
in the United States that still has military training. It has been a nonprofit corporation since
1920 and is governed by a 15-member Board of Trustees. Carson Long has been accredited by the
Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools since 1929. It is a member of the Association of
Military Colleges and Schools and the United States, the National Association
of Independent Schools and the Pennsylvania Association of Independent Schools.
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