This paper developed from the research done before, during, and after the Cumberland County Historic Resource Survey completed its study of Carlisle architecture.1 A desire to present this research in a more permanent form prompted this paper; it is meant to complement Dr. Milton Flower's Carpenter Companies and Carlisle Architecture.2 It is not a comprehensive study of Carlisle architecture. Because the survey project is directed by the National Park Service to focus its energies on discovering what structures are eligible for the National Register of Historic Places, our study of Carlisle architecture centered on the areas outside of the large National Register District in the downtown areas of the borough; as a result most examples presented in this paper can be found standing in the more residential parts of town.
Thomas Cookson as the chief surveyor for John and Thomas Penn laid out the borough of Carlisle in 1751. The Proprietors of Pennsylvania placed a caveat on the lots first sold; a purchaser of land within the borough was required to:
Build there on a house of at Least twenty feet Square of Stone Brick or Frame Work with a Stone or Brick Chimney within one year from this present Date and transfer not the same before such Building be Erected.3
If a building was not erected within the time allowed, the land reverted to the Proprietors.
As early as 1760, the carpenters of Carlisle banded together to prepare a list of "Prices of Work in Carlisle. "4 Work included in the price list varied from making shutters to framing a roof and covering it with oak shingles to putting a doorcase or window frames into a log house . A 1769 price list for carpentry work survives which listed many of the same types of work found on the 1760 list and also presented prices for more elaborate carpentry work such as a mentel shelf with a double cornice and scalloped shelves for closets.5 Unlike the procedure followed in preparing the 1760 list, seven carpenters signed their names: "Robt. Guthrie, Sen.; Abrm. Woods,Jas . Ramsey; Wm. Denny; John Pollock; Robt. Guthrie, Sen.; and Michael Flint."
The Hugh McCormick house, "discovered" during the survey of Carlisle, dates from this era.6 This two story log house at 146 East North Street first appears in written records in a 1774 deed from Hugh McCormick to Michael Washington. McCormick was first taxed in 1762; unfortunately, the tax records at this time do not specify if any buildings existed on the owner's properties. McCormick may have erected the house within his first year of owning the lot, if so then the house would be dated 1763. It can be determined that the house stood in 1798 when Patrick Leggitt owned the lot.
One can be fairly certain that the Hugh McCormick house predates 1798 because of the Federal tax of 1798, also known as the "Direct tax" or the "Glass tax." In 1798, the Federal government placed a tax on buildings, land value, and number of slaves. For each property the tax list (usually divided into a List A, List B, and List 1) gives the house dimensions, number of stories, number of windows and lights (panes of glass), materials, outbuildings, and owners' and occupants' names. The detail cited for each town or township depended upon the conscientiousness of the assessor; luckily for the town he was very thorough. In the case of the Hugh McCormick House, the description of the house in the 1798 Direct tax matches the current structure.
Carlisle historian Ruth Hodge, representing the African-American community of Carlisle, was actively involved in the discussion about renaming Carlisle High School's West Building. She had several individuals in mind who qualified for the honor, but when requested to pick just one name, she had no difficulty in narrowing the selection to the late Emma Thompson McGowan, a teacher in the Carlisle school system for almost thirty years.
By the early 1730s the proprietaries (Thomas, John, and Richard Penn) had decided to expand the colony’s western border across the Susquehanna River as far as the present day Kittochtinny Mountains.