What is an Ampersand?
This small, elegantly shaped symbol replaces the word “and” in written communications. The early Perry-Cumberland County tombstone carver, Crawford Duncan (ca. 1810-1850), used this symbol so frequently on his tombstones the temptation to dub him “The Ampersand Man” is irresistible! 1
Forgotten roads shimmer like fragile cobwebs over the mountains and valleys of central Pennsylvania. Many have disappeared under later roads and tracks. Others wind over the ridges as hiking trails or forestry roads. A very few remain as narrow paths in the woodlands. Their histories have become confused by 300 years of European settlers’ traffic. There were many such roads near Carlisle for the town was always a knot in this skein. The Fort Granville Road, mapped in 1755-1756, is an example of a truly forgotten, but still existing road.
There is a rugged knot of mountains where Cumberland, Franklin, and Perry Counties come together, crossed now by roads with odd names such as "Cow Pen Road" or "Three Square Hollow Road". It is lovely in the Fall with the foliage in bright color and again in the late spring when the mountain laurel froths in sunlit openings.