Carlisle is a
borough
A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely.
History
...
in and the
county seat
A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...
of
Cumberland County, Pennsylvania
Cumberland County is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 259,469. Its county seat is Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Carlis ...
, United States.
Carlisle is located within the
Cumberland Valley
The Cumberland Valley is a northern constituent valley of the Great Appalachian Valley, within the Atlantic Seaboard watershed in Pennsylvania and Maryland. The Appalachian Trail crosses through the valley.
Geography
The valley is bound t ...
, a highly productive agricultural region. As of the
2020 census, the borough population was 20,118;
including suburbs in the neighboring townships, 37,695 live in the Carlisle urban cluster. Carlisle is the smaller principal city of the
Harrisburg–Carlisle metropolitan statistical area
The Harrisburg–Carlisle metropolitan statistical area, officially the Harrisburg–Carlisle, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area, and also referred to as the Susquehanna Valley, is defined by the Office of Management and Budget as an area consi ...
, which includes Cumberland and
Dauphin and
Perry
Perry or pear cider is an alcoholic beverage made from fermented pears, traditionally in England (particularly Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, and Worcestershire), parts of South Wales, France (especially Normandy and Anjou), Canada, Austral ...
counties in
South Central Pennsylvania.
The
U.S. Army War College
The United States Army War College (USAWC) is a United States Army, U.S. Army staff college in Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, with a Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Carlisle postal address, on the 500-acre (2 km2) campus of the historic Carlisle B ...
, located at
Carlisle Barracks
Carlisle Barracks is a United States Army facility located in Pennsylvania, with a Carlisle post office address and with a portion in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. The site of the U.S. Army War College, it is the nation's second-oldest active military ...
, prepares high-level military personnel and civilians for strategic leadership responsibilities. The Carlisle Barracks ranks among the oldest U.S. Army installations and the most senior military educational institution in the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...
. Carlisle Barracks is home of the
United States Army Heritage and Education Center, an archives and museum complex open to the public. Carlisle is also home to
Penn State Dickinson School of Law and
Dickinson College
Dickinson College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1773 as Carlisle Grammar School, Dickinson was chartered on September 9, 1783, ...
. Dickinson College is also noted as it was the first college or university chartered after the United States was founded.
History
The
French-born fur trader
James Le Tort may have built a cabin in the area as early as 1720. During the
colonial era,
Scots-Irish settlers began to settle in the Cumberland Valley beginning in the early 1730s. The settlement of Carlisle, at the intersection of several Indigenous trails, was designated by the
Pennsylvania assembly and the
Penn family in 1751 as the seat of Cumberland County (named for the
county of the same name in England). American engineer
John Armstrong Sr., a surveyor for the Penn family, laid the plan for the settlement of Carlisle in 1751. Armstrong Sr. settled there and fathered
John Armstrong Jr. in 1758. They named the settlement after its sister town of
the same name in
Cumberland
Cumberland ( ) is an area of North West England which was historically a county. The county was bordered by Northumberland to the north-east, County Durham to the east, Westmorland to the south-east, Lancashire to the south, and the Scottish ...
, England, and even designed its former jailhouse (which now serve as general government offices in the county) to resemble the
Carlisle Citadel.
As a result of
conflicts on the
frontier
A frontier is a political and geographical term referring to areas near or beyond a boundary.
Australia
The term "frontier" was frequently used in colonial Australia in the meaning of country that borders the unknown or uncivilised, th ...
with
Native American tribes, a stockade was constructed in the settlement to protect against potential attacks in 1753. In 1755, the stockade was transformed into a fort, known as
Carlisle Fort or Fort Lowther. In 1757, colonel-commandant
John Stanwix, for whom
Fort Stanwix in
Upstate New York
Upstate New York is a geographic region of New York (state), New York that lies north and northwest of the New York metropolitan area, New York City metropolitan area of downstate New York. Upstate includes the middle and upper Hudson Valley, ...
was named, established his headquarters in Carlisle, and was promoted to
brigadier general on December 27. During the
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War, 1754 to 1763, was a colonial conflict in North America between Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of France, France, along with their respective Native Americans in the United States, Native American ...
, the North American theater of the
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...
, the largely successful
Forbes Expedition was organized in Carlisle in 1758;
Henry Bouquet also organized a military expedition from the settlement in 1763 during
Pontiac's War
Pontiac's War (also known as Pontiac's Conspiracy or Pontiac's Rebellion) was launched in 1763 by a confederation of Native Americans who were dissatisfied with British rule in the Great Lakes region following the French and Indian War (1754– ...
.
The
Pennsylvania guide, compiled by the Writers' Program of the
WPA in 1940, described the early history of Carlisle's
public square
A town square (or public square, urban square, city square or simply square), also called a plaza or piazza, is an open public space commonly found in the heart of a traditional town or city, and which is used for community gatherings. Relat ...
and the physical changes that had occurred by the first half of the 20th century, noting that the square, located at the
The settlement of Carlisle was largely supportive of the
Patriot cause during the
American Revolution
The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...
, and numerous individuals from the settlement served in the
Revolutionary War. Carlisle contains the home of lawyer
James Wilson, who served as a representative to the
Continental Congress
The Continental Congress was a series of legislature, legislative bodies, with some executive function, for the Thirteen Colonies of British America, Great Britain in North America, and the newly declared United States before, during, and after ...
; Wilson was a signer of the
Declaration of Independence
A declaration of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the territory of another state or failed state, or are breaka ...
in addition to being one of the framers of the
U.S. Constitution.
The First Presbyterian Church, begun in 1757 and completed in 1770, is the oldest building in Carlisle, and was where the Rev. John Steel (known as "The Fighting Parson") gave sermons in support of the Patriot cause during the American Revolution. The church was also where Pennsylvania settlers met on July 12, 1774, to sign a document protesting the
Boston Port Act
The Boston Port Act, also called the Trade Act 1774 ( 14 Geo. 3. c. 19), was an act of the Parliament of Great Britain which became law on March 31, 1774, and took effect on June 1, 1774. It was one of five measures (variously called the ''Into ...
. A year later Carlisle supplied a contingent for a
line infantry
Line infantry was the type of infantry that formed the bulk of most European land armies from the mid-17th century to the mid-19th century. Maurice of Nassau and Gustavus Adolphus are generally regarded as its pioneers, while Henri de la Tour d ...
regiment of the
Continental Army
The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies representing the Thirteen Colonies and later the United States during the American Revolutionary War. It was formed on June 14, 1775, by a resolution passed by the Second Continental Co ...
. Steel was named commander of the leading company of this group when they marched from Carlisle. No longer standing but marked by a historical marker is the home of
Ephraim Blaine, Commissary General of Revolutionary Army. Also, no longer standing but commemorated, is the home of Gen.
John Armstrong Sr., "Hero of
Kittanning," Revolutionary officer, and member of the Continental Congress.
Still standing is the gun shop of Thomas Butler Sr., an
Irish immigrant, who manufactured
long rifles during the French and Indian War. He later became Chief Armorer for The First Continental Congress. He and his five sons served in the Revolutionary War and were known as "The Fighting Butlers. His eldest son was
Richard Butler (general)
Richard Butler (April 1, 1743 – November 4, 1791) was an Anglo-Irish officer in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War who was later killed while fighting Native Americans at the Battle of the Wabash.
Family
Born in St. ...
.
Carlisle also served as a munitions depot during the American Revolutionary War. The depot was later developed into the
United States Army War College
The United States Army War College (USAWC) is a U.S. Army staff college in Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, with a Carlisle postal address, on the 500-acre (2 km2) campus of the historic Carlisle Barracks. It provides graduate-level instru ...
at Carlisle Barracks. Revolutionary War legend
Molly Pitcher died in the borough in 1832, and her body lies buried in the Old Public Graveyard. A hotel was built in her honor, called the Molly Pitcher Hotel; it has since been renovated to house apartments for senior citizens.
Carlisle was incorporated as a
borough
A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely.
History
...
a few years after the war on April 13, 1782. Carlisle continued to play a part in the early development in the United States through the end of the century: In response to a planned march in favor of the
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, on March 4, 1789. Originally includi ...
in 1787,
Anti-Federalists
The Anti-Federalists were a late-18th-century political movement that opposed the creation of a stronger U.S. federal government and which later opposed History of the United States Constitution#1788 ratification, the ratification of the 1787 Uni ...
instigated a riot in Carlisle. A decade later, during the
Whiskey Rebellion
The Whiskey Rebellion (also known as the Whiskey Insurrection) was a violent tax protest in the United States beginning in 1791 and ending in 1794 during the presidency of George Washington. The so-called "whiskey tax" was the first tax impo ...
in 1794, the troops of Pennsylvania and
New Jersey
New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...
assembled in Carlisle under the leadership of President
George Washington
George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...
. While in Carlisle, the president worshiped in the First Presbyterian Church at the corner of Hanover Street and High Street.
Benjamin Rush
Benjamin Rush (April 19, 1813) was an American revolutionary, a Founding Father of the United States and signatory to the U.S. Declaration of Independence, and a civic leader in Philadelphia, where he was a physician, politician, social refor ...
, a signer of the
Declaration of Independence
A declaration of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the territory of another state or failed state, or are breaka ...
, developed Carlisle Grammar School in 1773 and chartered it as Dickinson College—the first new college founded in the newly recognized United States. One of the college's more famous alumni, the 15th U.S. president,
James Buchanan
James Buchanan Jr. ( ; April 23, 1791June 1, 1868) was the 15th president of the United States, serving from 1857 to 1861. He also served as the United States Secretary of State, secretary of state from 1845 to 1849 and represented Pennsylvan ...
, graduated in 1809. The
Dickinson School of Law, founded in 1834 and affiliated then with Dickinson College, ranks as the fifth-oldest law school in the United States and the oldest law school in Pennsylvania.
On June 2, 1847, Carlisle was the site of the McClintock Slave Riot, which that broke out after a
fugitive slave hearing at the courthouse; several of the fugitive slaves were able to escape during the fray with the help of Carlisle's black residents, while one of the
slave catchers later died of his wounds. A
Dickinson College
Dickinson College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1773 as Carlisle Grammar School, Dickinson was chartered on September 9, 1783, ...
professor, John McClintock, was tried and acquitted for his role in the riot.
A general borough law of 1851 (amended in 1852) authorized a burgess and a borough council to administer the government of the borough of Carlisle.
Leading up to the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
, Carlisle served as a stop on the
Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was an organized network of secret routes and safe houses used by freedom seekers to escape to the abolitionist Northern United States and Eastern Canada. Enslaved Africans and African Americans escaped from slavery ...
. During the war, an army of the
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America (CSA), also known as the Confederate States (C.S.), the Confederacy, or Dixieland, was an List of historical unrecognized states and dependencies, unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United State ...
, under General
Fitzhugh Lee, attacked and shelled the borough during the
Battle of Carlisle on July 1, 1863, as part of the
Gettysburg Campaign. A cannonball dent can still be seen on one of the columns of the historic county courthouse.
United States Army Lieutenant
Richard Henry Pratt founded
Carlisle Indian Industrial School
The United States Indian Industrial School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, generally known as Carlisle Indian Industrial School, was the flagship Indian boarding school in the United States from its founding in 1879 to 1918. It was based in the histo ...
in 1879 as the first federally supported school for
American Indians off a reservation. The United States government maintained the school, housed at Carlisle Barracks as an experiment in educating Native Americans and teaching them to reject tribal culture and to adapt to white society. Pratt retired from the Army in 1903 and from supervising the school as its superintendent in 1904. Athletic hero
Jim Thorpe
James Francis Thorpe (; May 22 or 28, 1887March 28, 1953) was an American athlete who won Olympic gold medals and played professional American football, football, baseball, and basketball. A citizen of the Sac and Fox Nation, Thorpe was ...
entered the school in 1907 and joined its football team under coach
Glenn "Pop" Warner in 1908. Playing halfback, Jim Thorpe led the team to startling upset victories over powerhouses
Harvard
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...
,
Army
An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...
, and the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...
in 1911–12, bringing nationwide attention to the school. Marianne Moore taught there from 1911 to 1914. Carlisle Indian School closed in 1918.
Dickinson School of Law was chartered as an independent institution in 1890. Dickinson School of Law merged into the
Pennsylvania State University
The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...
in 1997 as
Penn State Dickinson School of Law.
Carlisle was the original eastern terminus of the
Pennsylvania Turnpike
The Pennsylvania Turnpike, sometimes shortened to Penna Turnpike or PA Turnpike, is a controlled-access toll road which is operated by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC) in Pennsylvania. It runs for across the southern part of the st ...
when it opened in October 1940.
The
Carlisle Historic District,
Carlisle Indian Industrial School
The United States Indian Industrial School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, generally known as Carlisle Indian Industrial School, was the flagship Indian boarding school in the United States from its founding in 1879 to 1918. It was based in the histo ...
,
Hessian Powder Magazine,
Carlisle Armory, and
Old West, Dickinson College are listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
.
Geography
Carlisle is located slightly northeast of the center of Cumberland County at (40.202553, −77.195016) at an elevation of .
The borough lies in the
Cumberland Valley
The Cumberland Valley is a northern constituent valley of the Great Appalachian Valley, within the Atlantic Seaboard watershed in Pennsylvania and Maryland. The Appalachian Trail crosses through the valley.
Geography
The valley is bound t ...
, a section of the
Great Appalachian Valley
The Great Appalachian Valley, also called The Great Valley or Great Valley Region, is one of the major landform features of eastern North America. It is a gigantic trough, including a chain of valley lowlands, and the central feature of the Appal ...
, to the south of
Conodoguinet Creek, a tributary of the
Susquehanna River
The Susquehanna River ( ; Unami language, Lenape: ) is a major river located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, crossing three lower Northeastern United States, Northeast states (New York, Pennsylvani ...
. Letort Spring Run, a tributary of Conodoguinet Creek, runs north through the eastern part of the borough.
Carlisle lies in south-central Pennsylvania, southwest of the intersection of
Interstate 76 (the
Pennsylvania Turnpike
The Pennsylvania Turnpike, sometimes shortened to Penna Turnpike or PA Turnpike, is a controlled-access toll road which is operated by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC) in Pennsylvania. It runs for across the southern part of the st ...
) and
Interstate 81
Interstate 81 (I-81) is a north–south (physically northeast–southwest) Interstate Highway in the eastern part of the United States. Its southern terminus is at Interstate 40, I-40 in Dandridge, Tennessee, Dandridge, Tennessee; its nort ...
, roughly west-southwest of
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, ...
, the state capital. By road, it is approximately northwest of
Baltimore
Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...
and west-northwest of
Philadelphia
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
. According to the
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...
, Carlisle has a total area of , of which is land and , or 0.14%, is water.
Climate
Carlisle has a
humid continental climate (Köppen ''Dfa'') with hot, humid summers and cool winters. The average temperature in Carlisle is 51.3 °F (10.7 °C) with temperatures exceeding 90 °F (32 °C) an average of 16 days a year and dropping below 32 °F (0 °C) an average of 119 days a year. On average, the borough receives 38.8 inches (986 mm) of precipitation annually. Snowfall averages 29.8 inches (757 mm) per year.
On average, January is the coolest month, July is the warmest month, and September is the wettest month. The hottest temperature recorded in Carlisle was 102 °F (39 °C) in 1966; the coldest temperature recorded was −19 °F (−28 °C) in 1994.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 17,970 people, 7,426 households, and 4,010 families residing in the borough. The population density was . There were 8,032 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the borough was 88.93%
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 6.92%
African American
African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 0.14%
Native American, 1.60%
Asian, 0.02%
Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...
, 0.71% from
other races, and 1.69% from two or more races.
Hispanic
The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
or
Latino of any race were 1.96% of the population.
There were 7,426 households, out of which 23.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.3% were married couples living together, 10.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 46.0% were non-families. 39.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.10 and the average family size was 2.81.
In the borough, the population was spread out, with 18.6% under the age of 18, 17.2% from 18 to 24, 25.3% from 25 to 44, 21.1% from 45 to 64, and 17.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 84.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 80.8 males.
The median income for a household in the borough was $33,969, and the median income for a family was $46,588. Males had a median income of $34,519 versus $25,646 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $21,394. About 8.6% of families and 14.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21.7% of those under age 18 and 8.5% of those age 65 or over.
Economy
The Giant Company, a regional supermarket chain operating stores in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia under the Giant and Martin's brands is headquartered in Carlisle.
Leading industries in Carlisle's past have included Carlisle Tire and Rubber Company (founded 1917), Masland Carpets (founded 1866), and The Frog, Switch and Manufacturing. Carlisle Tire and Rubber and Masland Carpets have since gone out of business, and both plants were demolished in 2013.
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc., doing business as Amazon, is an American multinational technology company engaged in e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. Founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos in Bellevu ...
is one of several warehouse facilities in the city. In 2013,
Apple
An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...
opened an
AppleCare
AppleCare+ is Apple's brand name for extended warranty and technical support plans. It allows the customer unlimited incidents of accidental damage with a deductible (which, like the price of the plan, varies by device). AppleCare+ is available fo ...
device repair facility southeast of the Interstate 81 overpass over the Pennsylvania Turnpike to cover American customers east of the
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...
.
Arts and culture
Carlisle is famous to many people for its car shows, put on regularly by Carlisle Events throughout the spring, summer, and fall at the
Carlisle Fairgrounds. In addition to the regularly scheduled shows there are specialty shows, including the GM Nationals, the Ford Nationals, the Chrysler Nationals, the Truck Nationals, Corvettes at Carlisle, and the Import/Kit Car Nationals.
Partly because of its location at the intersection of two major trucking routes (
I-81 and
I-76), air pollution within the borough often falls within the range considered by the
United States Environmental Protection Agency
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent agency of the United States government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it began operation on De ...
as "Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups"
.e., children, the elderly, and people with respiratory or heart disease The pollutant typically involved is PM2.5,
particulate matter
Particulate matter (PM) or particulates are microscopic particles of solid or liquid matter suspended in the air. An ''aerosol'' is a mixture of particulates and air, as opposed to the particulate matter alone, though it is sometimes defin ...
composed of particles less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter.
The Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet (CPYB), a ballet school and performing company known internationally for their alumni, is based in Carlisle. Students from across the country, and even across the world, come to live with host families to participate in CPYB's rigorous training.
Carlisle's
Dickinson College
Dickinson College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1773 as Carlisle Grammar School, Dickinson was chartered on September 9, 1783, ...
was the site of
Washington Redskins
The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...
preseason training camp from 1963 to 1994 and 2001 to 2002. In 1986, cornerback
Darrell Green ran the
40-yard dash in 4.09 seconds. Although the result was unofficial, it is the fastest "legitimate" time ever recorded in the 40-yard dash.
Two privately funded historical markers are located in Carlisle: one for the Hamilton Restaurant's Hot-Chee Dog and another for the Old Town Pump, which provided fresh spring water to Carlisle and "eventually became the source of a legend that claimed anyone who drank from the pump would return to Carlisle no matter how far they roamed".
Government and infrastructure

A portion of the Carlisle Barracks property is within Carlisle Borough.
Education
Colleges and universities
*
Dickinson College
Dickinson College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1773 as Carlisle Grammar School, Dickinson was chartered on September 9, 1783, ...
*
Penn State Dickinson School of Law
*
United States Army War College
The United States Army War College (USAWC) is a U.S. Army staff college in Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, with a Carlisle postal address, on the 500-acre (2 km2) campus of the historic Carlisle Barracks. It provides graduate-level instru ...
Public schools
*
Carlisle Area School District
Private schools
As reported by the National Center for Educational Statistics
*Carlisle Christian Academy
*Blue Ridge Mennonite School
*Dickinson College Children's Center
*Hidden Valley School
*St Patrick School
*The Christian School of Grace Baptist Church
Media
Print
Carlisle has one daily newspaper, ''
The Sentinel''.
Radio
AM
FM
Notable people
*
Robert Callender (1726-1776), fur trader and soldier
*
Charles J. Albright (1816–1883),
congressman from Pennsylvania
*
James Armstrong, congressman from Pennsylvania
*
John Armstrong Jr.,
United States Secretary of War
The secretary of war was a member of the President of the United States, U.S. president's United States Cabinet, Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's Presidency of George Washington, administration. A similar position, called either "Sec ...
*
Upton Birnie Jr. (1877–1957), US Army major general, born in Carlisle
*
Deborah Birx, American physician and diplomat.
*
Jackson Bostwick, actor
*
Ashley Bouder
Ashley Bouder (; born December 10, 1983) is an American ballet dancer who is currently a principal dancer at the New York City Ballet. She also founded and currently runs her own project, The Ashley Bouder Project.
Early life
Ashley Bouder was ...
, ballet dancer
*
Sid Bream, Major League Baseball player
*
Alice Bridges, (1916-2011), Olympic bronze medalist at age 20 in 100 m swimming event (1936 Berlin Olympics); resided in Carlisle
*
Nicky Broujos, soccer player
*
William Davidson (1783-1867), Pennsylvania State Senator for the 17th district from 1817 to 1824
*
Stephen Duncan, the wealthiest cotton planter in the South prior to Civil War, and second largest slave owner in the country
*
Cheston Lee Eshelman
Eshelman was a marque of small American automobiles (1953–1961) and other vehicles and implements including motor scooters, garden tractors, pleasure boats, aircraft, golf carts, snowplows, trailers, mail-delivery vehicles and more. ...
, inventor, aviator, manufacturer (Cheston L. Eshelman Company) and automaker (see
Eshelman)
*
John Bannister Gibson (1780-1853), Pennsylvania jurist and state supreme court chief justice
*
Harold J. Greene (1955-2014), United States Army soldier
*
Arthur Japy Hepburn (1877–1964), admiral whose naval career spanned Spanish–American War, World War I, and World War II
*
John Huzvar (1929–2007), football player
*
Carrie Imler, ballet dancer
*
Alexander J. Irwin, Wisconsin territorial legislator
*
Robert Irwin Jr., Michigan territorial legislator
*
Pat LaMarche
Patricia Helen LaMarche (born November 26, 1960) is an American political figure and activist with the Green Party of the United States; she was the party's Vice President of the United States, vice-presidential candidate in the 2004 United Stat ...
, Homeless advocate, Vice Presidential Candidate 2004
*
Jeff Lebo, former men's basketball coach at
East Carolina University
East Carolina University (ECU) is a public university in Greenville, North Carolina, United States. It is the List of universities in North Carolina by enrollment, fourth largest university in North Carolina and the only one in the state with s ...
*
Lois Lowry
Lois Ann Lowry (; née Hammersberg; born March 20, 1937) is an American writer. She is the author of many books for children and young adults, including '' The Giver Quartet'', '' Number the Stars'', the Anastasia series, and '' Rabble Starkey''. ...
, author of children's literature, awarded
Newbery Medal
The John Newbery Medal, frequently shortened to the Newbery, is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), to the author of "the most distinguished contr ...
twice; several childhood years were spent in Carlisle, her mother's hometown
*
Andrew G. Miller,
United States federal judge
In the United States, a federal judge is a judge who serves on a court established under Article Three of the U.S. Constitution. Often called "Article III judges", federal judges include the chief justice and associate justices of the U.S. S ...
*
Marianne Moore
Marianne Craig Moore (November 15, 1887 – February 5, 1972) was an American Modernism, modernist poet, critic, translator, and editor. Her poetry is noted for its formal innovation, precise diction, irony, and wit. In 1968 Nobel Prize in Li ...
,
Modernist
Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...
poet and writer
*
Charles Franklin Moss, photographer and artist
*
Billy Owens, former
NBA
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...
player
*
Molly Pitcher (Mary Ludwig Hays McCauley), heroine at the
Battle of Monmouth
The Battle of Monmouth, also known as the Battle of Monmouth Court House, was fought near the Village of Monmouth Court House, New Jersey, Monmouth Court House in modern-day Freehold Borough, New Jersey and Manalapan, New Jersey, Manalapan, on J ...
during the
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...
; a statue of her can be seen in Old Cemetery, where she is buried
*
David L. Smith (born 1827), member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
*
John T. Smith (1801-1864), U.S. Congressman for Pennsylvania's 3rd congressional district from 1843 to 1845
*
Samuel Smith, a
U.S. senator and
congressman from Maryland, born in Carlisle in 1752
*
Abi Stafford
Abi Stafford is an American ballet dancer. She joined the New York City Ballet in 2000 and was promoted to principal dancer in 2007. She retired in 2021.
Early life
Stafford was born in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. She started ballet when she was six ...
, ballet dancer
*
Jonathan Stafford, ballet dancer and artistic director of
New York City Ballet
New York City Ballet (NYCB) is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company. Léon Barzin was the company's fir ...
*
Robin Thomas, actor
*
Jim Thorpe
James Francis Thorpe (; May 22 or 28, 1887March 28, 1953) was an American athlete who won Olympic gold medals and played professional American football, football, baseball, and basketball. A citizen of the Sac and Fox Nation, Thorpe was ...
(1887-1953), iconic athlete, Olympic gold medalist, football player and coach; considered one of the most versatile athletes in modern sports
*
Lemuel Todd (1817-1891), U.S. congressman, officer in the
1st Pennsylvania Reserve Regiment
*
Frederick Watts, U.S. Commissioner of Agriculture (1871–1876) and "Father of
Penn State University
The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...
"
*
Samuel Wilkeson, former mayor of
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...
*
William Wilkins (1779-1865), U.S. Senator 1831–34, U.S. Representative, U.S. Secretary of War
*
James Wilson, signer of
Declaration of Independence
A declaration of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the territory of another state or failed state, or are breaka ...
, twice elected to the
Continental Congress
The Continental Congress was a series of legislature, legislative bodies, with some executive function, for the Thirteen Colonies of British America, Great Britain in North America, and the newly declared United States before, during, and after ...
, a major force in the drafting of the nation's
Constitution
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed.
When these pri ...
*
Lee Woodall, former
NFL player
* Lt. Col.
Jay Zeamer Jr.,
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
U.S. Army Air Forces veteran and Medal of Honor recipient
References
Further reading
* Ridner, Judith. ''A Town In-Between: Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and the Early Mid-Atlantic Interior'' ( 2010
excerpt and text search
External links
*
Borough of Carlisle official websiteCumberland Valley Visitors Bureau*
ttp://www.stahlseite.de/frogswitch.htm Photographs of the Frogswitch foundry in Carlisle
{{authority control
Carlisle
Carlisle ( , ; from ) is a city in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England.
Carlisle's early history is marked by the establishment of a settlement called Luguvalium to serve forts along Hadrian's Wall in Roman Britain. Due to its pro ...
County seats in Pennsylvania
C
Susquehanna Valley
Populated places established in 1751
1751 establishments in the Thirteen Colonies
1782 establishments in Pennsylvania
American Civil War sites
Pennsylvania in the American Civil War