In order to understand the early years of the German Lutheran and Reformed churches in Cumberland County, we need to know something about the beginnings of these two churches in colonial Pennsylvania and also about the pattern of the county's early settlement.
In recent years, researchers seeking to interpret history have increasingly recognized the value of photographic collections. Such images provide us with important information often available nowhere else. Visually accurate, they often have the power to evoke a time long since lost.
Grantham in Upper Allen Township is best known as the home of Messiah College. Both the village and the college are very much a product of the creative energy of Samuel Roger Smith, a farm boy become educator and industrialist.
On April 12, 1973, ten residents of Upper Allen Township gathered in the municipal building in response to a call by the Commissioners for people interested in planning for the nation's bicentennial celebration. Several weeks later, on May 7, these same residents, along with two new recruits, formed the Upper Allen Heritage Committee, having as its stated purpose the preservation of the "natural and historical heritage of Upper Allen Township."