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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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      Shirley I. HeishmanInterview 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.

      Nicole Witmer
      
Interview of Nicole Witmer by Alan Schultze on March 25, 2015. Witmer discusses growing up on a farm outside of Carlisle, Pennsylvania and the physical changes to the landscape as farms are replaced by warehouses in the area. She further talks about her school experiences including being home schooled, attending Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School, and Shippensburg University.

      Highlighted Entries    
    
      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.

      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.

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      Letter: Andrew Blair, Sr. to his  daughter Ann Hays Blair Murray, 1851Mr. Blair has been ill, but he is getting better and has his corn to plant. He is very worried about Mr. Weaver who has become deranged and describes his condition.
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      Letter: Rebekah Armstrong and Carlisle Society in 1795 It was the Christmas season when twenty-six-year-old Rebekah Armstrong arrived in Carlisle in December 1795 to spend the holiday with her Armstrong relatives. Her uncle, General John Armstrong, had died in March of that year.
Read more about Letter: Rebekah Armstrong and Carlisle Society in 1795 

      Letter: Dr. Samuel Allen McCoskry to his brother, 1817Dr. Samuel Allen McCoskry (1751-1818) was one of the first children born in Carlisle. He was a physician, Revolutionary War surgeon, member of the Society of the Society of Cincinnati, Trustee of Dickinson College, and son-in-law of its first president Charles Nisbet. He writes to his brother Dr. William McCoskry (1763-1831) that he and his wife are concerned about their son William’s debts and conduct as well as the impaired heath of the family.
Read more about Letter: Dr. Samuel Allen McCoskry to his brother, 1817

    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...