At whose tavern were several Indian chiefs staying when it caught fire in 1796? Which female tavernkeeper was indicted for permitting gambling? Where was the "Sign of the Rattlesnake"? Which tavernkeeper presented an English traveler with the largest apple he had ever seen? At whose tavern could you watch the King of France have his head chopped off?      Taverns played a vital role in American life. They not only provided food and shelter for travelers (who slept on the floor when the beds were full), but they were also the cultural, political, military, medical and civic centers of the community and s urrounding countryside.      Who kept these taverns and why were some tavernkeepers also making tea tables, coffins, silver spoons and saddles? What could one expect to find when one entered a tavern? How was the tavern furnished? What kind of food and drink did the tavernkeepers server? What was mimbo? What was shrub?      Taverns provided a place to learn the latest dances from traveling dancing masters, see a production of "Romeo and Juliet," gaze upon an elephant or buy a piece of furniture. A traveler could have cancer cured, teeth pulled, a horse bred or simply enjoy a game of cards, a bowl of punch and some conversation at the end of a day's work.      Section I of this book includes such topics as travel conditions, tavern patrons, furnishings, food and drink, tavernkeeping and its social and civic roles in the community. Sections II and III contain the histories of 200 Cumberland County taverns. Each history contains a description of the tavern building, a chronological list of its tavernkeepers and incidents that occurred there.      Fifty-five tavern structures have survived. Photographs that show alterations to old taverns are included. Maps, documents and advertisements combine with the text to bring the old tavern to life once more.

Taverns of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, 1750-1840 (Heritage Series)

Travel

Schaumann, Merri Lou Scribner

Food, Lodging & Transportation

Cumberland County Historical Society

This book tells the story of how the people who settled Cumberland County, Pennsylvania dressed and how they furnished their homes with textiles. Analysis of all 1220 estate inventories filed in the county from 1750 until 1800, together with wills, deeds, administrative papers, tax lists, indictments, newspapers and manuscripts, give rich detail about men's and women's clothing, bed "furniture" and table linen during these fifty years. 
 Many utilitarian needs for textiles were supplied by local "manufacture". Farmers produced flax, hemp and wool fibers. Household spinners took their yarns to weavers who produced the much needed cloth yardage. Household seamstresses or tailors and milliners in the towns custom-made the clothing. However, from the County's beginning many small storekeepers brought a side variety of goods from Philadelphia. 
 Fashion in clothes and style in the household demanded that the materials offered in Philadelphia and Baltimore be available in the county even though it was on the frontier. Contrasts abound: while one townsman slept in a "blue painted bedstead" with a set of "crimson bed curtains", a farm hand slept on a "tow chaff tick" on the floor; and while one person wore a "fine linen ruffled shirt" another wore a linen hunting shirt "dyed with maple bark". A runaway servant wore his master's new bottle-green great coat which had a yellow cape and red silk buttons. 
 The terminology of the period is used for all textiles, weaving equipment, clothing and accessories. The contributions of fullers, dyers, tailors, mantua makers, hatters, stocking makers, tanners, breeches makers and shoemakers are described. The appendices list over 100 named varieties of cloth found in inventories or stores and identify types and colors of cloth found in inventories or stores and identify types and colors of cloth used for men's coats, waistcoats and breeches; and for women's gowns and petticoats. 
 Eighteenth century Cumberland County with thirty-three widespread townships and three towns in an exceptional context for analysis of the different ways material objects were used in everyday life. Records of its storekeepers reveal how they functioned in colonial commerce and within the community. Household functions such as heating, cooking, eating and sleeping are used to compare simple farms with fashionable homes. "Wardrobes" of people in different situations are compared. Altogether this work provides an interesting portrayal of a substantial part of the structure of life in Cumberland County at a critical time in our nation's history.

Cloth and Costume, 1750-1800: Cumberland County, Pennsylvania (Heritage Series)

Hersh, Tandy and Charles

From coffee table to kitchen counter, explore the past with over one hundred fascinating archival photographs and enjoy the present with three hundred tested old and new recipes. You will want to give this taste of Cumberland county to friends far and near. An ideal gift for all occasions especially for the holiday season.

Past Receipts, Present Recipes (Heritage Series)

Society, Friends of the Cumberland County Historical

Hoffer, Ann Kramer

This book explores the ways in which the natural environment and the historical development of the Cumberland Valley shaped leisure activities in the nineteenth century. Their evolution in the course of the century was shaped by important national developments such as industrialization and a revolution in transportation, but they also reflected the unique physical environment of the valley and its dozens of towns and villages. 
 Sometimes leisure was enjoyed in such simple activities as dancing, singing around a piano, or roller skating. Sometimes it was sought at special events like parades, the annual visit of the circus, or the U.S. Centennial. 
 During the first decades of the century, popular entertainment consisted of plays and exhibitions presented in taverns. It later evolved into travelling minstrel shows, vaudeville entertainment and movies, presented in public halls or the town's opera house. 
 Those in the valley also enjoyed music, singing in choral groups or playing in brass bands. Yet the most satisfying leisure activity of all might have been a picnic somewhere in "the loveliest spot on earth"--the Cumberland Valley.

In Pursuit of Pleasure: Leisure in Nineteenth Century Cumberland County (Heritage Series)

Garrett, Clarke

". . . Drive the Road and Bridge the Ford . . ." Highway Bridges of Nineteenth Century Cumberland County (Heritage Series)

Gill, Paul E.

The Bitter Fruits is the story of a Cumberland County family swept up in the Civil War whose lives were dramatically changed forever. In 1861, James and Annie Colwell were a prominent Carlisle couple with four young children. James, a Princeton graduate and Carlisle lawyer, held very strong feelings about preserving the Union. In spite of his age of forty-eight, his family and professional obligations, he was among the first Carlisle men to enlist after the fall of Forst Sumter. This previously unknown story is revealed by James Colwell's great grandson, David Colwell of California, in a new Heritage Series book.  David Colwell's account is based on a trunkful of old Colwell family letters and papers from a Carlisle attic that he inherited in 1991. After setting the scene, Mr. Colwell relates the story of James's departure, his war experiences serving as First Lieutenant of Company A of the 7th Pennsylvania Reserves, Annie Colwell's struggle at home to care for her four young children, and James's tragic death at Antietam. The couple's personal story is revealed through nearly two hundred of their surviving letters. Using a multitude of sources including accounts from 1861-62 Cumberland County newspapers, life in Cumberland County and this family's personal story during those trying times is presented in a well documented, poignant and moving text.  Included in the book are over fifty complete transcriptions of James and Annie Colwell's letters as well as brief histories of the Colwell GAR Post No. 201 (named in his honor), the Civil War Monument on the Carlisle Public Square, and Company A of the 7th Pennsylvania Reserves. Over two hundred carefully selected period photos and illustrations support the text, many published for the first time.  Don't miss this unique and fascinating publication, a genuine history of the Civil War in Cumberland County, as seen and experienced by participants and civilians at home. According to historian, Dr. Whitfield Bell, this book is "in most respects the best and most significant single work of local history the Historical Society has ever seen."

The Bitter Fruits: The Civil War Comes to a Small Town in Pennsylvania

Colwell, David

Tritt, Richard (editor)

The home front during World War II took many guises, only some of which were directly involved in mustering a military force of 16 million American soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines. Total war required harnessing the nation's economic, cultural, and political capacites to ta dregre not seen in the US since the Civil War. In a struggle for national survival, few communities and few lives remained untouched by the war between 1941 and 1945. Among the constellation of prison camps around the nation, three were unique in that they were designated as clandestine interrogation centers. The Pine Grow Furnace POW iInterrogation Camp, in Cumberland Co., Pennsylvania occupied a site already rich in American history.

Secret War at Home The Pine Grove Furnace Prisoner of War Interrogation Camp

John Paul Bland

Babes in the Woods Story

David L. Smith

See the best price to sell, buy or rent books by the Cumberland County Historical Society publisher. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Cumberland County Historical Society