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.
Arnold discusses the Second Presbyterian Church in Carlisle as well as her experiences working at Cochran and Allen among other changes in Carlisle over time.
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.
Thomas Craighead’s slave Venus: Sister of the first published American Negro poet Phillis Wheatley. T.C. was Thomas Craighead (1789-1865) the son of John Craighead and his wife Jane Lamb. The “old Thomas Craighead” he refers to in his letter was his grandfather who died in 1807. In 1845, T.C. also contributed a history of incidents relating to his family that was published in I.D. Rupp’s History of Dauphin, Cumberland, Perry Counties…. p. 440-444.
Daughter of a Carlisle tavernkeeper, wife of an English iron worker, Aunt to a well-known actress, and benefactress to the poor, Susana McMurray Higgs was born, lived much of her life and died on the same property in Carlisle.
The photo of the lunch counter at Woolworth’s, taken at the reopening in 1959, brings back fond memories. When you were growing up and shopping with your mother at Woolworth’s, a milk shake or maybe a dish of ice cream at the lunch counter was the hoped for reward for having to endure waiting with her as she looked through the notions and the housewares departments. At the lunch counter you could swivel back and forth on the stool, stare at the dispenser that kept the orangeade cold and watch the lady cooking hamburgers on the grill.
John and Leo Faller were brothers from Carlisle Pa. who served in the same unit during the war. Their letters to family members provide excellent insight into the thoughts of a typical soldier.
The garage that W. Raymond Black built in 1928 was an architectural gem, and the only building of its kind in Carlisle. It would stand for 76 years.
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...