Clarion developed from the early 1840s into a town shaped by hotels, homes, schools, churches, businesses, and civic institutions along Main Street and nearby blocks. The Forest House, built in the early 1840s as the first completed hotel in the new town, later became the Loomis House after John B. Loomis's widow continued its operation following his death in the Civil War. The Jones House, originally the Oakland Hotel and dating to the 1840s, was rebuilt after a 1900 fire that destroyed it and many neighboring businesses, leading to a ban on wood buildings on that section of Main Street and improvements to the water system; the New Jones House later had 50 rooms, a lobby, store rooms, and a barber shop, and it was heavily damaged in 1918 when anonymous firemen attacked its bar after manager Warren Mahoney refused to stop selling liquor to World War I draftees, before the hotel was destroyed by fire again on January 19, 1941. The W.A. Graham Home at 650 Main Street, built in 1908 by E.A. McElhaney, included an elevator and wiring for both electricity and gas lighting and over the past century housed the Temperance Boarding House, the White Pillars Gift Shop, New Bethlehem Bank, S&T Bank, the Clarion University Bookstore, and the Clarion Chamber of Business and Industry. Clarion's Free Library grew from community fundraising around 1910, moved in 1918 to Judge Campbell's residence, and gained support in 1920 from Dr. John D. Ross for a memorial library building honoring his mother, Mary Ann (Wilson) Ross, after legal battles over his estate. Other Main Street landmarks included the Crooks Building, where a clothing store opened in 1905 and the Clarion Restaurant became known for scenic wall murals and an aquarium; the Ditz Mooney Hardware Store, whose top floor once housed Clarion's Opera House and a roller skating rink opened in 1905; Wein's Department Store, opened in 1912 and rebuilt after a 1915 fire; and the Garby Theater, opened in 1936 with advanced sound and operating equipment. Prominent houses included the Amsler Home and Graham house, built with matching buff brick, the G.W. Arnold home of 1856 at 720 Main Street, and the Frank Arnold house at 8th and Main, later razed for commercial use. Educational and religious sites included the Academy, opened September 6, 1885, later expanded and used for different grade levels before being razed in 1957; Immaculate Conception Church, completed in 1856, remodeled in the late 1880s, and replaced after being razed in 1976; a nearby schoolhouse built in 1867 and expanded in 1908 before closing in 1938; and churches including First Presbyterian, Clarion Baptist, and First United Methodist. The Kaufman Building, built in 1855 by Charles Kaufman, reflected the town's varied commerce, while New Deal labor through the WPA helped construct the Clarion Post Office beginning in 1935. Later community life included the Autumn Leaf Festival, begun in 1953 and drawing large crowds each fall, as well as sites such as the Telephone Exchange, the Republican Printing Company, Reisinger's Store, Carl & Don's Studio, Spindler & Star Auto, and the Orpheum Theater, where Roy Rodgers and Trigger appeared in 1941.