Iron Works in Boiling Springs Mini-Grant

The establishment of the Carlisle Iron Works in Boiling Springs around 1760 marks the beginning of industrail development in the Cumberland Valley.

These signs are part of a joint historic signage project of the Boiling Springs Civic Association and South Middleton Township. This project was finances in part by the South Mountain Partnership Mini-Grant.

South Mountain Outdoors

South Mountain Outdoors

History of South Mountain Outdoors [SMO]:

SMO was founded and is the brainchild of memberes of the South Mountain Partnership. Businesses and non-profits [Penn Trails LLC, Central Pennsylvania Conservancy, local state parks, and Strawberry Hill Nature Preserve as well as others] envisioned a weekend long celebration of the outdoors. This unique private / public partnership is a chance to educate locals and tourists on all the region has to offer - which covers Adams, Cumberland, Franklin and York counties. SMO offers unique experiences and recreational opportunities for the entire family to enjoy. 

At the conclusion of its first year in 2011 [due to the awarded Min-Grant], over 750 passports were distributed from 35 participating sites.

South Mountain Outdoors is headed into it's second year running!

For more information, follow this link to the South Mountain Outdoors website.

Arendtsville Borough Receives Signs Marking Fruit Belt

Arendtsville Welcome New Interpretive Signs!



Arendtsville Borough has marked a park with an interpretive signs project welcoming people to Arendtsville and describing the cultural history of the South Mountain area.

 This project was made possible in part due to the South Mountain Partnership Mini-Grant program.

Mount Holly Marsh Preserve

The Mount Holly Marsh Preserve is a 900-acre natural area along the rocky slopes of the South Mountain near Mount Holly Springs, PA. The preserve consists of a 700-acre upland forest and a 200-acre marsh and was acquired in 1992 by The Nature Conservancy and donated to Cumberland County with the assistance of the Holly Gap Committee, a group of local community members who raised funds to acquire the land.

In addition to providing ample recreation opportunities through hiking and nature exploration, the area also has a long and interesting history spanning the Revolutionary and Civil Wars as well as more recently playing host to Mount Holly Park, a summer resort attracting vacationers from many miles away.

A short drive from the state capital, this mini-wilderness serves both as a sanctuary and living laboratory for many communities in central Pennsylvania. Download the Mount Holly Marsh Preserve brochure and trail map from the Cumberland Valley Visitors Bureau web site.

Camp Michaux Recognition and Development

For 10 years, the Cumberland County Historical Society has supported the development of increased understanding of the history of a site in Cooke Township known as Camp Michaux. The site had been used as a farm associated with the iron industry from 1787-1912, and then as a farm leased by the state from 1913-1919. In 1933 the site became the first Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp in Pennsylvania and continued to function until 1942. In 1943, the U.S. Army converted the CCC facility for use as a secret interrogation camp for enemy German and Japanese prisoners of war, one of only three such sites in the country. After WWII, the facility was renovated and operated by Camp Michaux, Inc., a joint effort of the United Church of Christ and the United Presbyterian Church, as a youth summer camp.

With the aid of a South Mountain Partnership mini-grant and under leadership of historian David Smith, the project has secured an official State Historical Marker for the site. Trails have been opened at the camp and individual sites cleared to make them more visible to the public. A self-guided walking tour guidebook has been produced and keyed to numbered posts that have been erected throughout the former camp. The project also seeks to list the property on the National Register of Historic Places and the nomination process for this phase of the project is still in progress.

Download a PDF of the Self-Guided Camp Michaux walking tour from the Cumberland County Historical Society's web site here.