Thomas Penn, a son of William Penn and a Proprietor of the lands remaining from his father's original grant, was actively involved in plans related to the design of Carlisle. The town, as originally developed, incorporated sixteen square blocks centered on a Square bounded by the cardinal streets: North, South, East and West. A letter from John O'Neal to Governor Hamilton in 1753 described the new community as "handsome, in the center of a valley, with a mountain bounding it on the north and the south, at a distance of seven miles." He also wrote of the two waterways near Carlisle. ''A large stream of water runs about two miles from the village, which may at a future period be rendered navigable. A fine spring flows to the east, called the Le Tort, after the Indian interpreter who settled on its head about the year 1720." The Conodoguinet, the larger stream north of town, never did become commercially navigable, but the Letort, running along the eastern boundary of the original town plan provided the water necessary for several of the early industries that helped to shape the character of Carlisle's "East End."
Tanneries, distilleries and breweries grew up along the Letort. The stream and the streets around it changed dramatically over the years. Epidemics associated with unclean water plagued the colonies in the late 1700s. In 1793, Philadelphia ordered a nearly total quarantine of the city in efforts to halt the spread of yellow fever. The citizens of Carlisle "were at the same time suffering under a disease which they termed the March miasmata, and the prevalence of which they attributed to the unhealthy condition of the Le Tort's spring. Tan-yards and mills were attacked, dams declared public nuisances and razed, and the channel of the spring dragged and cleansed, to remove the stagnant water from the adjoining low grounds, and prevent its future accumulation. The fever in Philadelphia, and the miasma here, shortly afterwards subsided, and with them the terror and excitement of the people of Carlisle. "
As the industrial side of town, the East End of Carlisle developed differently from the more genteel western part of town. Newly constructed buildings associated with Dickinson College (founded in 1783) provided an anchor to the West End from 1799 onwards. Additionally, banks and law offices near the Square attracted professionals to build homes within walking distance of work. Members of the upper class built homes in the East End, too, especially along High Street, but the streets of the eastern half of Carlisle provided a greater mix of working class and middle class homes. In these homes, women played many roles. It would be natural for some women to work side-by-side with their husbands in the industries along the Letort. Women served in the many taverns associated with the breweries of the area. Other women played a more traditional role as homemakers in support of their families. Biographical sketches of nine women with associations to Carlisle's East End over nearly 200 years provide an insight into this diverse culture.
Anne Letort: A woman on the frontier
Circa 1700
Anne Letort was one of the first white women in the Cumberland Valley. She and her husband, James, settled at the headwaters of the stream that would eventually bear their name before 1720. James Letort was a trader dealing with several of the Indian groups of the region. Business with the government, as an interpreter, took him away from his trading business from time to time. Anne Letort developed a bad reputation among the Indians who came to trade; they complained that she charged them more than the customary amount. Carlisle historian Milton Flower records in A History of Cumberland County that "her shrewish ways towards the Indians were as famous as her husband's exploits. At times she beat the natives with her broomstick; on one occasion she forced them off her property which she boasted, truly enough, was granted by Penn and therefore private." Mr. Flower continues his report regarding James Letort to state that "in 1720 his cabins here were burned by unfriendly Indians, for all we know, irked at his crabbed wife."
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