Home | Elizabeth V. and George F. Gardner Library

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.

      Barbara RedmondInterview of Barbara Redmond for the Elizabeth V. and George F. Gardner Digital Library an initiative of the Cumberland County Historical Society. Redman discusses how she moved to Mount Holly Springs, PA and the make up of the neighborhood of Mountain Street and Cedar Avenue in Mount Holly.

      Highlighted Entries    
    
      Mrs. Sarah A. Faber: From Carlisle to Constantinople
      
When Sarah Filey was growing up in rural Cumberland County in the 1830s and 1840s, she could not have imagined that ten years of her life would be spent more than 5,000 miles away in Constantinople, Turkey.

      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

    Recently Published
  
      “A Sleighing Party’s Bad Luck”Sleighing parties to Cumberland County hotels and private houses were managed by livery stable owners who provided  sleighs, horses, drivers, blankets, robes, and foot warmers to keep the sleigh’s occupants warm as the horses carried them along wintry roads. 
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      Gas Light Comes to Carlisle
      
“Introduction of Gas!” proclaimed the Carlisle Herald in its June 4, 1856, edition,  while a headline in the June 5, 1856, edition of the American Volunteer reported:
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      Carlisle Newspapers and Their PublishersThe Carlisle Herald and the American Volunteer were the two major newspapers in Carlisle for most of  the nineteenth century. The Carlisle Herald was the organ of the Republicans, and the American Volunteer was the organ of the Democrats.
Read more about Carlisle Newspapers and Their Publishers

    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...