In October 1866, A. K. Rheem, the publisher of the Carlisle Herald, visited Mechanicsburg to look at improvements in the town. He wrote the following article about his visit: “The most important and noticeable new buildings are the Market House and the Merchant's Hotel. The former is a splendid brick edifice beautifully built and running through the entire depth of a square.
Perhaps if a symbol were to be chosen for historians, it would be an owl. The wise old owl, who listens more than he speaks, just as the historian is supposed to observe and study before he publishes his essay into the past. Yet, upon reading historical essays, one begins to sense that historians might more appropriately march beneath the sign of the parrot. History, which began as the most inquisitive of arts, often degrades into repeating accepted wisdom, and the received tradition replaces individual inquiry.
World War II had an enormous impact on the citizens of the United States. The country was struggling for its very existence. All sections of the country felt the impact including the borough schools of Mechanicsburg.
Towns often start in strange ways, following paths not first expected by their planners. The farther we are removed from those founding days, furthermore, the more difficult it becomes to reconstruct just how a town began. After the passage of a century or more, most tangible vestiges of the early days are gone and we are left with only the old myths and oral traditions. So it is with Mechanicsburg. Almost.
Americans have a love-hate relationship with the city. Thomas Jefferson wanted to create a country of gentlemen farmers because cities were a haven for men with radical ideas and dangerous to the "morals, the health, and the liberties of men.” The image of the city did not improve during the nineteenth century.
Interview with Mary Merris at the Mechanicsburg Area Senior Adult Center on July 19th, 2002 with Heather Egan as a part of the Cumberland County Women During World War Two Oral History Project. Merris discusses postponing her wedding due to the outbreak of the war and the difficulty of raising small children on rations. Merris further talks about her life after her husband was drafted and life at Fort Benning, Georgia.
The appearance of a facsimile edition of Robert L. Brunhouse's Miniatures of Mechanicsburg is a welcome addition to the shelf of local history.
Interview with Marian Mundorff at her home in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania on July 17, 2002 with Jen Elliott as part of the Cumberland County Women During World War Two Oral History Project. Mundorff discusses her family's efforts during the war including her own as a messenger during blackouts, making bandages at the hospital through Girl Scouts, and the scrap drives and bond sales at school.
The National Register of Historic Places was organized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966.
The advancement of civilization demands a full development of the minds of our girls. The day when the boy is to be educated and the girl neglected has, like other relics of barbarism, passed into history.