Home | Elizabeth V. and George F. Gardner Library

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.

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      Highlighted Stories    
    
      Shirley I. HeishmanInterview of Shirley Heishman for the Elizabeth V. and George F. Gardner Digital Library. Heishman discusses her life growing up in Bloserville outside of Newville, Pennsylvania including her experiences working on her parents farm to meeting her husband Don Heishman and their many business ventures from hauling milk, water, and whey to building the Heishman Softball Complex.

      Helen Kollas
      
Interview of Helen Kollas by Michael Collins on March 18, 2015. The interview focuses on the Hamilton Restaurant in Carlisle, Pennsylavania, Kollas' early life growing up, and the Greek Community in Carlisle.

      Highlighted Entries    
    
      Mrs. Sarah A. Faber: From Carlisle to Constantinople
      
When Sarah Filey was growing up in rural Cumberland County in the 1830s and 1840s, she could not have imagined that ten years of her life would be spent more than 5,000 miles away in Constantinople, Turkey.

      Isabella Oliver
      
Isabella Oliver, (July 16, 1771—June 7, 1843), once known as the “poetess of the Conodoguinet,” or more colorfully as that creek’s “muse,” was the second--and the first female--published Cumberland County poet in 1805 with Poems on Various Subjects, following the unknown writer of The Unequal Conflict in 1792.

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      Miss Esther Lamberton (1799-1880)Esther Lamberton and her twin brother Christopher James were born six years after their father James Lamberton killed John Duncan of Carlisle in a duel in June 1793.1 Esther wrote her will on September 23, 1878.
Read more about Miss Esther Lamberton (1799-1880)

      “Washingtoniana” on display in Carlisle in 1944
      
George Washington’s birthday on February 22 was commemorated in different ways in Carlisle in 1944.
Read more about “Washingtoniana” on display in Carlisle in 1944

      Antiques Going, Going, Gone: Local Sales in the 1940s and 1950s
      
Collectors and dealers of antiques have often talked about the old days when there were so many good pieces of furniture and “smalls” for sale at auctions. The following are examples of some of those sales.
Read more about Antiques Going, Going, Gone: Local Sales in the 1940s and 1950s

    Railroads
  
Jim E. Largent Sr.Largent discusses his experiences growing up and his time working for a railroad company. Watch Story...
Dillsburg and Mechanicsburg Railroad“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...
Hey Ollie, Let's Go RailroadingReproduced 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...