Carlisle man’s painting exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art
In 1932, New York’s Museum of Modern Art held an exhibit titled “American Folk Art of the Common Man in America 1750-1900.” One of the paintings in the exhibit was titled “
Bedford Street
First Evangelical Lutheran Church of Carlisle, PA
The Carlisle Borough Charter claims that the First Lutheran Church began about 1765 when the German immigrants of Reformed and Lutheran church background worshiped together in a union church on South Hanover Street near South Street.1 In 1807, the church divided and the Lutherans built
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.
Susana McMurray Higgs (1794-1877)
Daughter of a Carlisle tavernkeeper, wife of an English iron worker, Aunt to a well-known actress, and benefactress to the poor, Susana McMurray Higgs was born, lived much of her life and died on the same property in Carlisle.
Miss Margaret MacDonald (1760-1844)
Margaret MacDonald was born on June 22, 1760, one of Duncan and Sarah MacDonald’s four children.1 Her father, described as “the old Scotch highland piper,”2 likely served in one of the British regiments sent to Carlisle during the French and Indian War.
Mary Hays McCauley - Carlisle’s Molly Pitcher
The story of Molly Pitcher is complex. It is a story that is part fact, part myth, and partly the combination of stories of multiple women during the Revolutionary War.1 Myths were built up and repeated without documented evidence to support the story.
The Old Nail Factory on North Bedford Street, Carlisle, PA
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.”
John Proctor: Whitesmith (1784-1847)
“John Proctor was a well-known figure in the industrial world of Carlisle in the early days; he made bits when they were made and filed and plated by hand, silver money being melted to get material for the plating.” Proctor was working in Carlisle as early as 1812 according to a bill he submitted to the County Commissioners for work done at the jail and the court house. The work included making locks, keys, and hinges for window shutters.
John Spahr: Constable (1807-1876)
George Shrom, who grew up on East Street in Carlisle, wrote about John Spahr in an 1898 article in the American Volunteer newspaper.