Anna Wagner Keichline of Bellefonte was Pennsylvania’s First Woman Architect Admitted to the State Registry

Born in Bellefonte, Centre County, Pennsylvania in 1889, Anna Wagner Keichline became the first woman architect named to the state registry in Pennsylvania. Keichline was the youngest of four children. Her parents gave her a workshop and carpentry tools, which she used to create furniture. She won a prize for a table and chest she made at a county fair in 1903 when she was 14, and her work was praised as comparing "favorably with the work of a skilled mechanic".

Graduating from Bellefonte High School in 1906, she studied for one year at Pennsylvania State College, the only woman in her studio class. Keichline then transferred to Cornell University and became the fifth female to receive an architectural degree when she graduated in 1911.

The owner of seven patents, her first combined a sink and wash tub in order to save kitchen space and make them more comfortable to use.

Keichline’s best-known invention was the K Brick, which led to the development of the concrete block. It was patented in 1927 and she was honored for it by the American Ceramic Society in 1931. The K Brick was made of clay and used for hollow wall construction.

Her building projects included Bald Eagle and Nittany Valley Presbyterian Church in Mill Hall, Pennsylvania in 1915, Cadillac Garage and Apartments (County Chevrolet Garage) in Bellefonte in 1916, the Plaza Theater in Bellefonte in 1925, and the Juniata Colony Country Clubhouse in Mount Union, Pennsylvania in 1927.

Keichline was also involved in World War I efforts, serving as a "special agent with military intelligence." She was a delegate to President Hoover's Better Housing Conference, becoming a personal friend and admirer to the President.  On July 4, 1913, she led a march in Bellefonte of Suffragists during nationally organized protests.

Keichline’s obituary in the Centre Daily Times in State College, Pennsylvania, February 5^th, 1943, included the remarks: “Miss Keichline's accomplishments and hobbies were published in various magazines, She enjoyed life in many ways and was religious and philosophical and loyal to her friends. Her collection of books, especially on the life of Abraham Lincoln. was greatly prized.”

She was reported to have been ill for more than a year, and confined to her Bellefonte home, for several months before her passing.

In 2002, the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission dedicated a marker to Keichline, near the Plaza Theater on High Street in Bellefonte, one of the buildings she designed.

The inscription reads: First woman registered as an architect by the state (1920), this Bellefonte native, inventor, Cornell grad & women's suffrage advocate designed numerous buildings, including the Plaza Theatre here. She served as Special Agent, Army Intelligence, WWI.