Fresh Air Fund Children
On Tuesday, August 19, 1884, a train left New York City with 100 children bound for the Cumberland Valley. They were “Fresh Air Fund” children; a movement started by Pennsylvania clergyman Willard Parsons in 1877.
Recent
Cumberland County Horse Thief Detecting and Protection Societies
Horses were vital for transportation and farming, and horse stealing was a chronic problem. In the nineteenth century, horse thief detection and protection societies were formed in many states.
Bertha G. Kitch: North Middleton Township School Teacher
A black and white photograph shows two horse-drawn wagons filled with children from the Basin Hill School and their teacher Miss Bertha Kitch. They are having their picture taken in front of Carlisle’s Market House. The ground is covered with snow.
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.
Newville’s Big Spring Hotel -1860
The Big Spring Hotel was situated near the Newville Depot on the Cumberland Valley Rail Road. It was enlarged and improved by its owners, the Ahl brothers, in 1860. By May 1860, a three-story brick addition to the back of the hotel was almost finished.1
Christmas in Carlisle - 1874
The editor of the Carlisle Herald newspaper devoted several columns in the December 31 edition of the paper to describe some of the Christmas festivities in Carlisle.
Craighead Father and Son Die Within Hours of Each Other
On Saturday, March 30, 1822, Gilson Craighead, a prosperous South Middleton Township farmer and mill owner, went to Carlisle for the day with his son Major James. They would both be dead within a week.
African American Refreshment Houses and Oyster Cellars of Carlisle: Operated by John B. Vashon, John Peck, Lewis Robinson in 1820s
The 1820s saw the rise of Refreshment Houses and Oyster Cellars in Carlisle; many operated by African Americans such as Lewis Robinson, barber John Peck, and John B. Vashon, also a barber. These establishments were seasonal, usually in rented spaces and often in the cellars of taverns. Fare typically consisted of oysters served fried, stewed, pickled or roasted, as well as tripe, pigs’ feet and turtle soup.
Van Baker of Newville: Ex-slave
Known in town as “Bossy” Baker, Van Baker was born a slave in Virginia about the year 1820. When The Star and Enterprise newspaper reported that Mr.
Peter Pattaw 18th Century Carlisle Potter
For several years at the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century, a pottery was operated in Carlisle by Peter Pattaw.