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:
Browse Encyclopedia
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.
Letter: Dr. John Peebles Geddes of Newville, 1837
Letter: Dr. John Peebles Geddes of Newville to Mrs. Eliza C. Dunn, Franklin County, PA, 1837. The letter was written by Dr. John Peebles Geddes of Newville who would die less than four months after writing this letter. It was full of news of the coming of the railroad, the sheriff sale of the Ege belongings, relatives, neighbors, servants and more.
George Washington Chair Sold in 1931
One-hundred and thirty-seven years after George Washington supposedly sat in a Sheraton chair in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, it was sold.
“The German” A Society Cotillion
“The Social Event of the Season: Dewitt Clinton Bosler Gives a German in the Armory” proclaimed the newspaper. The article described an event held in Carlisle on the evening of December 28, 1896. Dewitt Clinton Bosler, a wealthy bachelor, gave his third annual German.
German Bakers of Carlisle
The 1861 “List of Retailers” in Carlisle included five bakers. At least three of them were German immigrants who had settled in Carlisle in the 1830s and 1840s; John Sellers, John Schmohl and George Grossman.
Amelia S. Givin (1845-1915)
Amelia Steele Givin was born on October 31, 1845. She was the only daughter of Robert and Sara (Gibson) Givin; she had four brothers who predeceased her. Her father and his brother, Samuel, were the founders of a paper mill in Mt.
Henry Glass: Hotel Keeper
American Volunteer, May 2, 1861. “DESTRUCTIVE FIRE. Glass’ Hotel in Ashes—Narrow Escape of the Inmates—Heavy Loss, etc.
Greason, West Pennsboro Township: The Village Next to the Railroad 1860-1880
The village of Greason is unknown to most people traveling on Cumberland County's major roads. It sits between Newville Road in the north and Ritner Highway (Rt. 11) in the south. It is less than one mile south of Plainfield and grew up along the old Cumberland Valley Railroad line. Approaching the village today, the first thing you notice is the abandoned warehouse. Vines cover the gable end of the warehouse and cling to its board walls that show little of the paint that once covered them. The railroad tracks are gone, and their route is now part of the Rail Trail walking path. The Station Depot is gone, the Greason Academy building, with its many additions, is a private home, but many of the dozen or so houses remain and evoke an image of what the village was like in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Miss Florence Greenfield (1865-1946)
When Miss Florence Greenfield died in Carlisle on January 31, 1946, she was the last member of her family.1 The contents of her will, published in a Harrisburg newspaper a week later, revealed that the Carlisle Hospital was named the beneficiary of her estate.
Notable Gunsmiths of Cumberland County
The manufacture, or making by hand, of firearms (almost exclusively longrifles) dates to the era of British colonization and settlement of the Cumberland Valley.