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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.

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      Highlighted Stories    
    
      Catharine MacCaffray (Women in World War II)
      
This is an oral history conducted by Steven Burg with Catharine MacCaffray at her home in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, on June 20, 2002 as part of the Cumberland County Women During World War Two Oral History Project. MacCaffray discusses her experience as a volunteer nurse's aid for the American Red Cross in various hostitals in Carlisle. MacCaffray further talks about other various experiences including working at C. H. Masland's, seeing German POWs, and rationing.

      Nhan Ai Simms
      
Interview of Nhan Ai Simms by Amanda Gautier and Megan Osborn on November 1, 2015 for the Elizabeth V. and George F. Gardner Digital Library. The interview focuses on the Simms family and experiences in Carlisle and Cumberland County after Vietnam.

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      Phebe Paine: Educator (1802-1872)
      
In recollections of her life in Carlisle, Mary C. Dillon, author of the novel “In Old Bellaire,” wrote about the faculty circle of Dickinson College. She said that it included “the brilliant spinsters, Miss Sarah and Miss Phoebe Paine, who had a finishing school for young ladies on West Street

      Emma Louise Thompson McGowanEmma Louise Thompson McGowan was born in Winchester, Virginia in 1876. When she was thirteen years old, McGowan moved with her family from Winchester, Virginia to Carlisle, Pennsylvania escaping the devastation of the South and seeking a new life in the North.

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      Letters: John and William Holmes of Carlisle to Philadelphia merchant John Mitchell,1775, 1776
      
The 60-foot by 33-foot, two-story stone building on High Street, just east of St. John’s Episcopal Church, is where several generations of merchants operated their businesses.
Read more about Letters: John and William Holmes of Carlisle to Philadelphia merchant John Mitchell,1775, 1776

      Letters: From Merchant Ephraim Steele to Philadelphia Merchant John Mitchell, 1775, 1776Ephraim Steele was one of several Carlisle merchants who did business with Philadelphia merchant John Mitchell. The method of doing business and the kind of goods ordered are revealed in these three letters written in 1775 and 1776.
Read more about Letters: From Merchant Ephraim Steele to Philadelphia Merchant John Mitchell, 1775, 1776

      Letter: From the Committee of Correspondence to Philadelphia merchant John Mitchell, 1775We have been favoured with your letter of the 14th of this month; and look upon ourselves and this county to be much obliged to you for the trouble you have been kind enough to take in purchasing ammunition for us.
Read more about Letter: From the Committee of Correspondence to Philadelphia merchant John Mitchell, 1775

    Railroads
  
Jim E. Largent Sr.Largent discusses his experiences growing up and his time working for a railroad company. Watch Story...
Dillsburg and Mechanicsburg Railroad“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...
Hey Ollie, Let's Go RailroadingReproduced 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...