A roller skating craze swept the country in the 1880s. Opinions were divided on whether roller skating rinks provided the public with “healthful amusement” or were “pits of perdition” as some preachers claimed.1 Regardless, roller skating was so popular that rinks were built in Carlisle, Mechanicsburg, Mt. Holly and Shippensburg.
Interview of Susan Beckey and Rebecca Lender for the Elizabeth V. and George F. Gardner Digital Library, an initiative of the Cumberland County Historical Society. Beckey and Lender discuss growing up in Silver Spring Township, Pennsylvania and their memories of Cumberland County including the Silver Spring Drive-In, the Silver Spring Speedway, and Cumberland Valley High School.
Interview with J. L. Durnin for the Elizabeth V. and George F. Gardner Digital Library. Durnin discusses growing up during the Great Depression in Carlisle, his World War II military experience, and later years working at AMP Inc.
Interview of Dolly Fair for the Elizabeth V. and George F. Gardner Digital Library. Fair discusses growing up in Mount Holly Springs and South Middleton Township as her love of roller skating.
Interview of Bob Over for the Elizabeth V. and George F. Gardner Digital Library an initiative of the Cumberland County Historical Society. Over discusses growing up in Newville, Pennsylvania during the Great Depression and World War II as well as the history of Newville.