Harry Mullins holds his 1966 Williamsburg High School yearbook in what is known as Charlie’s Barber Shop, the building he purchased in 2018. The shop is full of memorabilia from Williamsburg, including photos, chairs and even the Philco radio that had been in the barber shop since 1939. Harry Mullins holds his 1966 yearbook in his Williamsburg barber shop. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski

WILLIAMSBURG — While in high school, Harry Mullins did not participate in school activities.

Today, Mullins, 71, is involved in numerous community activities — he recently was re-elected to a three-year term on the Blair County Republican Party Committee — and he’s well known throughout the area.

Mullins is vice chairman of the Williamsburg Municipal Authority and also belongs to the Williamsburg Area Fire Commission, Williamsburg Volunteer Fire Company and the United Methodist Church.

Through his Republican Party activities, he has become good friends with officials such as U.S. Rep. John Joyce, R-13th District; state Sen. Judy Ward, R-Blair; and state Rep. Jim Gregory, R-Hollidaysburg.

“Harry is the heart of Williamsburg. He understands the fabric of the community and how to weave the different fabrics to make it stronger. He has an insight into people and the needs of the people and how to make it a better place and strengthen the community,” Joyce said.

“Harry Mullins is one of those people that every town needs. He not only advocates for the town of Williamsburg, but for each person and business in the town,” he said.

“He likes to make connections with local elected officials and lets us know what the town, or individuals in the town, might need. He is a ‘connector,”’ Joyce said.

Harry loves all things Williamsburg and enjoys collecting memorabilia, especially Williamsburg memorabilia, to tell the story of the town, Ward said.

Perhaps Mullins is best known today for his memorabilia collection in what is known as Charlie’s Barber Shop, the building he purchased in 2018.

“He has all kinds of Williamsburg memorabilia,” said good friend David Cadle, executive director of The Crossroad, a local youth ministry. “He does a good job. He is concerned about Williamsburg’s heritage. He does a lot of good things for the community. He is a quiet activist; his heart is a giant. He does nothing for himself. He is a treasure.”

“I find Harry Mullins to be the most self-deprecating, unselfish and responsible person for a community that I ever met,” Rep. Gregory said. “What he means to the people of Williamsburg … he wants to always be there for them and he takes it on like he is elected. He cares about his community in ways I don’t find to be the case with enough people. There are lots of people who want to be helpful to the community but Harry seems to take it to another level.”

Mullins was born in Pittsburgh. His family moved to Altoona in 1954 when his father, Floyd, was transferred by the PRR to work at the reclamation plant in Frankstown. The family moved to Williamsburg in 1958 when Harry was in fifth grade.

He graduated from Williamsburg High School in 1966.

“When I was in high school, I didn’t participate in anything,” Mullins said. “It was my fault. I felt I was not good enough.”

However, he met the late Joe Very, a vocational-agriculture teacher, when he was in seventh grade.

“Joe became a good friend,” Mullins said. “He was a role model to me. He was there for everybody to talk to; when you needed someone to talk to, he was there.”

After high school, he held a few odds jobs before working at New Enterprise Stone & Lime Co. He retired as plant operator at the Union Furnace Quarry in 2015.

In 2018, Mullins purchased the barber shop building, built in 1890, from Terry and Cheryl White.

“I am deeply indebted to those folks,” he said. “I never felt my family was part of the community. I wanted to give back. I owe this community a debt of gratitude for the kindness they gave to my family.”

Mullins said the building has always been a barber shop and was last operated by Charles Hauser from 1958 until he fully retired in 2016.

Hauser had plenty of memorabilia in his shop. Some was discarded, but members of the community rescued much of it.

Mullins’ collection of Williamsburg memorabilia is endless — a Philco radio which has been at the shop since 1939, a deer head which has been there since the 1950s and a neon clock from Norris Furniture, which dates back to the 1950s.

“I have wooden chairs from the 1940s, a 100-year-old rocking chair,” Mullins said. “The barber chairs are from the late 1930s or early 1940s and are in pristine condition.”

Some of his most prized pieces are the 1958 and 1966 banners that were on the wall at the high school — those were the two years the high school boys basketball team won the PIAA Class C championship.

He also has memorials for State Police Trooper Landon Weaver, who was killed in the line of duty.

Mullins runs the shop to give back to the community.

“Williamsburg is such a caring, giving town,” he said. “I could spend the rest of my life working for them and would still owe them a debt of gratitude. This is all territorial. It is valuable to our community what I collect. To people outside of Williamsburg, 99.9 percent of the stuff doesn’t mean anything.”

Mullins is about out of room, but said if anyone brings in any memorabilia, he will make sure it gets to the right place.

“I will direct them to what can be done with the stuff. This is a place where people can ask questions about Williamsburg history,” Mullins said.

Mullins hopes someday his memorabilia will become part of a new Williamsburg Heritage and Historical Society.

“This will be a part of it,” he said. “I am keeping these things so they don’t get discarded. I would donate whatever they need or whatever would enhance it.”

If anyone has anything to donate, they can contact Mullins at 934-1549 or Harrymullins78@gmail.com.

Mirror Staff Writer Walt Frank is at 946-7467.

The Mullins file

Name: Harry Mullins

Age: 71

Position: Owner of Charlie’s Barber Shop memorabilia

collection

Education: 1966 graduate of Williamsburg High School

Family: Significant other, Sharon Detwiler, and her three

grandchildren: Emily, 23; Noah, 21; and Memphis, 16.

Quote: “It is my sole purpose in life. That is all I want to do.

I want to be available to the community.”