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 Mary Ann Shughart by Carolyn Osborn for the Cumberland County Historical Society. Shughart discusses her life including her experiences during World War II while her husband, Dale F. Shughart, was serving in the military.
Interview of Nicole Witmer by Alan Schultze on March 25, 2015. Witmer discusses growing up on a farm outside of Carlisle, Pennsylvania and the physical changes to the landscape as farms are replaced by warehouses in the area. She further talks about her school experiences including being home schooled, attending Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School, and Shippensburg University.
Margaret MacDonald was born on June 22, 1760, one of Duncan and Sarah MacDonald’s four children.1 Her father, described as “the old Scotch highland piper,”2 likely served in one of the British regiments sent to Carlisle during the French and Indian War.
Emma Louise Thompson McGowan was born in Winchester, Virginia in 1876. When she was thirteen years old, McGowan moved with her family from Winchester, Virginia to Carlisle, Pennsylvania escaping the devastation of the South and seeking a new life in the North.
In 1844, a Mr. Richards of Reading, Berks County Pennsylvania, having heard from some residents of Reading that Carlisle was called the “Athens of Pennsylvania,” he decided to visit it and see for himself. When he returned to Reading his impressions of Carlisle were published in the April 17, 1844, edition of the “Reading Journal.” The “Carlisle Weekly Herald” published it for “the curiosity of its readers” in the April 24, 1844, edition of the newspaper.
Carlisle tavernkeeper John Pollock was a man with many irons in the fire including providing Philadelphia newspapers to those in Carlisle and the hinterland.
The year was 1834 and the County Commissioners wanted to spruce up the cupola on the Court House. They made the following agreement with Jefferson Worthington that detailed the work they wanted done.
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...