Image: Dam on Mountain Creek by Jim Bradley

The Elizabeth V. and George F. Gardner Digital Library Logo

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.

Highlighted Stories

Crea Arnold

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.

Shirley I. Heishman

Interview of Shirley Heishman for the Elizabeth V. and George F. Gardner Digital Library. Heishman discusses her life growing up in Bloserville outside of Newville, Pennsylvania including her experiences working on her parents farm to meeting her husband Don Heishman and their many business ventures from hauling milk, water, and whey to building the Heishman Softball Complex.

Highlighted Entries

Emma Louise Thompson McGowan

Emma 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.

Susana McMurray Higgs (1794-1877)

Photo of the stone house at corner of Bedford and Louther Streets, operated as the Sign of the Thirteen Stripes tavern.

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.

Dean Vaughn

Interview of Dean Vaughn for the Elizabeth V. and George F. Gardner Digital Library Memory Bank of the Cumberland County Historical Society. Vaughn discusses growing up in Boiling Springs in the post-WWII era before volunteering for the United States Army. He then discusses how he developed his memory techniques while working for RCA in Thule, Greenland and what led him to establish his own company.