Image: Dam on Mountain Creek by Jim Bradley
An initiative of the Cumberland County Historical Society the Elizabeth V. and George F. Gardner Digital Library seeks to fulfill the Society's mission of collecting, engaging, and sharing the stories of Cumberland County.
Interview of E. Jean Bixler of Boiling Springs, Pennsylvania for the Elizabeth V. and George F. Gardner Digital Library. Bixler discusses growing up in Boiling Springs as well as her family.
Interview of Barbara Redmond for the Elizabeth V. and George F. Gardner Digital Library an initiative of the Cumberland County Historical Society. Redman discusses how she moved to Mount Holly Springs, PA and the make up of the neighborhood of Mountain Street and Cedar Avenue in Mount Holly.
Thomas Craighead’s slave Venus: Sister of the first published American Negro poet Phillis Wheatley. T.C. was Thomas Craighead (1789-1865) the son of John Craighead and his wife Jane Lamb. The “old Thomas Craighead” he refers to in his letter was his grandfather who died in 1807. In 1845, T.C. also contributed a history of incidents relating to his family that was published in I.D. Rupp’s History of Dauphin, Cumberland, Perry Counties…. p. 440-444.
Being the wife of a tavernkeeper meant that Elizabeth helped with the running of the tavern as well as taking care of her family. Washing, cleaning, cooking in a hot kitchen over a fire for hours as well as helping in the barroom was hard work.
Warren Mullen was a World War II veteran and artist with a keen sense of humor. He was a prolific letter writer; and his letters were filled with drawings of his experiences, whether serious, humorous, or outrageous.
Interview of Dean Vaughn for the Elizabeth V. and George F. Gardner Digital Library Memory Bank of the Cumberland County Historical Society. Vaughn discusses growing up in Boiling Springs in the post-WWII era before volunteering for the United States Army. He then discusses how he developed his memory techniques while working for RCA in Thule, Greenland and what led him to establish his own company.
Sleighing parties to Cumberland County hotels and private houses were managed by livery stable owners who provided sleighs, horses, drivers, blankets, robes, and foot warmers to keep the sleigh’s occupants warm as the horses carried them along wintry roads.
Largent discusses his experiences growing up and his time working for a railroad company. Watch Story...
“The Dillsburg and Mechanicsburg Railroad was built with the backing of the Cumberland Valley Railroad primarily to haul iron ore from the vast reserves around Dillsburg to furnaces in the Harrisburg region. Read Article...
Reproduced below are a number of the photographs which were displayed at the Cumberland County Historical Society as an exhibit "Hey Ollie, Let's Go Railroading." Over 250 photographs were put on display as a tribute to all the railroaders, both here and gone, who worked in the Cumberland Valley. Read Story...