The Cumberland County Historical Encyclopedia is an expanding publication on the history of the Cumberland County. Covering a wide range of topics and the entire Cumberland County geographic region, the Encyclopedia seeks to be an initial entry point to those interested in the County's history. Entries seek to provide a list of resources available as well as showcasing some of the Cumberland County Historical Society's own collections.
A roller skating craze swept the country in the 1880s. Opinions were divided on whether roller skating rinks provided the public with “healthful amusement” or were “pits of perdition” as some preachers claimed.1 Regardless, roller skating was so popular that rinks were built in Carlisle, Mechanicsburg, Mt. Holly and Shippensburg.
The 1820s saw the rise of Refreshment Houses and Oyster Cellars in Carlisle; many operated by African Americans such as Lewis Robinson, barber John Peck, and John B. Vashon, also a barber. These establishments were seasonal, usually in rented spaces and often in the cellars of taverns. Fare typically consisted of oysters served fried, stewed, pickled or roasted, as well as tripe, pigs’ feet and turtle soup.
On January 1, 1876, the Alexander’s of Bloserville gave a dinner to celebrate the beginning of America’s Centennial year. One of their guests was so impressed that he sent a letter describing it to the editor of the Carlisle Weekly Herald who published it.
Settlers in colonial America adopted the use of tobacco after it was introduced to them by native peoples in the 1600s. Tobacco plantations proliferated as the demand for tobacco grew. After tobacco was harvested, it had to be cured.
“Ho! For California” headlined an item in the March 21, 1849 issue of the Carlisle Herald. “A party of enterprising adventurers, from Carlisle, consisting of Messrs. Geo. Fleming, Esq., Col. Simon Alter, Samuel F. Gaenslen, Geo. Keller, Wm. Keller, John C. Williams, and William Humer, left this place on Monday morning last for California. The party proceeds via Pittsburgh to the rendezvous at Independence, Missouri, where they will probably join one of the large expeditions on the overland route to California.”
Charles A. Henneberger was the proprietor of the Eagle Hotel on Main and High streets in Newville. A collector of taxidermy, among his specimens of birds and beasts were a wild-cat and a snow-white squirrel from the North Mountain. He also collected reptiles.
John James Trumbull Arnold was an itinerant portrait artist who painted the likenesses of people who lived in the York Springs area in the 1840s. He was born in Latimer Township, York County, the son of Dr. John B. Arnold and his wife, the former Rachel Weakley. The last known dated portrait by Arnold was painted in 1853. The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum lists John James Arnold as a ‘Professor of Penmanship and Portrait and Miniatures Painter’.[1]
In April 1839, Sandel Arnold applied to the authorities in Wurttemberg, Germany to immigrate to America.[1] Two years later, he was peddling goods out of his wagon to the residents of Cumberland County. Sandel Arnold was born in 1790 in Jebenhausen in the Goppingen District of (Württemberg) Germany.
Located on the York Road in the Borough of Carlisle’s east side is Ashland Cemetery. Its dedication took place October 8, 1865 with the Reverend Doctor Conway Wing giving an opening address.
The two oldest church buildings still standing in their original locations in Carlisle are the First Presbyterian Church on the Square and the Associate Presbyterian “Seceder” Church on South West Street, currently the West Street A.M.E. Zion Church.