Bowmansdale is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

located in Upper Allen Township in

Cumberland County Cumberland County may refer to: Australia * Cumberland County, New South Wales * the former name of Cumberland Land District, Tasmania, Australia Canada *Cumberland County, Nova Scotia United Kingdom * Cumberland, historic county *Cumberl ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, United States, south of Mechanicsburg. It is named after Jacob Bowman, a former Cumberland County sheriff. Bowmansdale has been recognized as a

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains historic building, older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal p ...

by the Cumberland County Planning Department. The other historic districts in eastern Cumberland County include the Market Street District in Camp Hill, the Lisburn Historic District, the McCormick Road Historic District, the Mechanicsburg Commercial Historic District, the New Cumberland Historic District, the Shepherdstown Historic District, and West Fairview Village. Before permanent settlements were built in Cumberland County, numerous Native American transportation paths crossed the county, including those of the

Shawnee The Shawnee ( ) are a Native American people of the Northeastern Woodlands. Their language, Shawnee, is an Algonquian language. Their precontact homeland was likely centered in southern Ohio. In the 17th century, they dispersed through Ohi ...

and

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...

tribes. Bowmansdale was a recognized stop on the Conoy Trail that ran between the places that are now known as

Lisburn Lisburn ( ; ) is a city in Northern Ireland. It is southwest of Belfast city centre, on the River Lagan, which forms the boundary between County Antrim and County Down. First laid out in the 17th century by English and Welsh settlers, with t ...

and Carlisle. Bowmansdale is home to the historic Lindenwood Farm. The founding date for the estate is unknown, but a document from the Cumberland County Courthouse recorded its sale by William Crawford to Robert Bryson in 1751. By the late 1780s, the property was home to tanning and limekiln businesses. Several buildings from the 1860s remain on the property, along with barns that are older. By 1884, Bowmansdale was a stop on the Harrisburg and Potomac Railroad that connected

Harrisburg Harrisburg ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat, seat of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Dauphin County. With a population of 50, ...

to Shippensburg. The rail line was later purchased by the

Reading Railroad The Reading Company ( ) was a Philadelphia-headquartered railroad that provided passenger and freight transport in eastern Pennsylvania and neighboring states from 1924 until its acquisition by Conrail in 1976. Commonly called the Reading Railr ...

. The Bowmansdale Stoner

covered bridge A covered bridge is a timber-truss bridge with a roof, decking, and siding, which in most covered bridges create an almost complete enclosure. The purpose of the covering is to protect the wooden structural members from the weather. Uncovered woo ...

, built in 1867, was relocated to the campus of nearby

Messiah College Messiah University is a private interdenominational evangelical Christian university in Upper Allen Township, Pennsylvania, near Mechanicsburg. History The school was founded as "Messiah Bible School and Missionary Training Home" in 1909 by ...

Grantham Grantham () is a market town and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, situated on the banks of the River Witham and bounded to the west by the A1 road (Great Britain), A1 road. It lies south of Lincoln, England ...

in 1972.

Notable people

* Russ Wrightstone: professional baseball player

References

{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania Unincorporated communities in Pennsylvania