Schaumann, Merri Lou

In the 1780s, John Duncan and Lewis Foulk both operated nail factories in Carlisle. Cask nails and sprigs of any size, flooring brads, shingle nails, and Double Tens Lathing were all hand wrought at their factories. Duncan advertised that he sought "a few good nailors” and offered them "generous wages. Lewis Foulk also advertised that he wanted a number of nailors who would be paid “generous wages,” and he also wanted a “bred [sic] nailor.”

For several years at the end of the 18^th century and the beginning of the 19^th century, a pottery was operated in Carlisle by Peter Pattaw.

In 1812, tavernkeeper Michael Forner laid out lots on a piece of land on the road from Carlisle to Newville. He called the new town Plainfield. Plans were afoot for a Grand Turnpike from Harrisburg to Pittsburgh, and Forney thought it "would more than probably go through his new town."It did not. Often referred to as Smokey Town, the name Plainfield was officially adopted with the opening of the Post Office. The map of Plainfield in the 1872 Atlas of Cumberland County shows the locations of the shops, two churches, the school, the hotel as well as the houses. Plainfield grew, and by 1910, the village had approximately 200 residents.

Frederick A. Harris and Reverend Joseph Martin carried on a correspondence of reminiscences about Carlisle in the 1850s and 60s. Their letters were published in the American Volunteer newspaper in the 1890s.