Carlisle, Pennsylvania

Carlisle, Pennsylvania
Borough
Carlisle
Seal
Motto: "Excellence in Community Service"
Carlisle, Pennsylvania
Coordinates: 40°12′09″N 77°11′42″WCoordinates: 40°12′09″N 77°11′42″W
Country	United States
State	Pennsylvania
County	Cumberland
Settled	1751
Incorporated	1782
Government
• Type	Borough Council
• Mayor	Willam Kronenberg
• Council Pres.	Sean M. Shultz
• Council V.P.	Linda G. Cecconello
Area
• Total	5.4 sq mi (14 km2)
Elevation	479 ft (146 m)
Population (2010)
• Total	18,682
• Density	3,308.9/sq mi (1,277.6/km2)
Time zone	Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
• Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
Zip code	17013, 17015
Area code(s)	717
Website	www.carlislepa.org

Carlisle is a borough in and the county seat of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States.^[1] The name is locally pronounced as in British English with emphasis on the second syllable /krlal/. Carlisle is located within the Cumberland Valley, a highly productive agricultural region. As of the 2010 census, the borough population was 18,682. Including suburbs in the neighboring townships, 37,695 live in the Carlisle urban cluster. Carlisle also is an exurb of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, to the east.

Carlisle is the smaller principal city of the Harrisburg−Carlisle Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Cumberland, Dauphin, and Perry counties in South Central Pennsylvania. In 2010,Forbes rated Carlisle and Harrisburg the second-best place to raise a family.^[2]

The U.S. Army War College, located at the Carlisle Barracks, prepares high-level military personnel and civilians for strategic leadership responsibilities. Carlisle Barracks ranks among the oldest U.S. Army installations and the most senior military educational institution in the United States Army. Carlisle Barracks is home of the United States Army Military Heritage Museum.

Carlisle also hosts Dickinson College and Penn State Dickinson School of Law. Ahold's US headquarters are in Carlisle.

American pioneer John Armstrong, Sr., circa 1751 laid the plan for the settlement of Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Scots-Irish immigrants settled in Carlisle and farmed the Cumberland Valley. They named the settlement after its sister town of Carlisle, Cumbria, England and even built its former jail-house (which Cumberland County now uses as general government offices) to resemble Carlisle Citadel.^[3][4] In 1757, Colonel-Commandant John Stanwix made his headquarters there, and was later promoted to Brigadier-General later in the year on December 27, 1757. Fort Stanwix is named for him. John Armstrong, Sr., founder of the town, fathered John Armstrong, Jr., born in Carlisle in 1758. It is interesting to note that John Stanwix sat in Parliament as Member for Carlisle during the 1740s, that his surname 'Stanwix' is the name of a historic village (now suburb) to the north of Carlisle, Cumbria, and that the surname 'Armstrong' is an old Reiver name common to the Anglo-Scottish border and the Carlisle district.

Late during the French and Indian Wars, the Forbes expedition organized in Carlisle in 1758, andHenry Bouquet organized an expedition there for Pontiac's War, the last conflict of the war, in 1763.

The Carlisle Grammar School (now Dickinson College) began as a Latin school on the frontier in 1773.

Carlisle served as a munitions depot during the American Revolutionary War. This munitions depot ultimately developed into the United States Army War College at Carlisle Barracks.

Carlisle was incorporated as a borough on April 13, 1782. Benjamin Rush, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, developed Carlisle Grammar School and chartered it as Dickinson College, the first new college founded in the newly recognized United States. The 15th U.S. president, James Buchanan, graduated from Dickinson College in 1809.^[5] In response to a planned march in favor of the United States constitution in 1787, Anti-Federalistsinstigated a riot in Carlisle. During the Whiskey Rebellion in 1794, the troops of Pennsylvania and New Jersey assembled in Carlisle under the leadership of President George Washington. George Washington worshiped in the First Presbyterian Church at the corner of Hanover Street and High Street. Revolutionary legend Molly Pitcher died in the borough in 1832, and her body lies buried in the Old Graveyard. A hotel was built in honor of her, called the Molly Pitcher Inn, but has since been renovated due to its neglected use.

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. A general borough law of 1851 (amended in 1852) authorizes a burgess and a borough council to administer the government of the borough of Carlisle. Carlisle served as a stop on the Underground Railroad before the American Civil War.

An army of the Confederate States of America under General Fitzhugh Lee attacked and shelled the borough during the Battle of Carlisle on July 1, 1863, part of the Gettysburg Campaign of the American Civil War. On a column in front of the historic county courthouse a cannon ball dent can still be seen.

United States Army Lieutenant Richard Henry Pratt founded Carlisle Indian Industrial School 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 in the United States and teaching them to reject tribal culture and to adapt to white society. Richard Henry Pratt retired from the Army in 1903 and from supervising the school as its superintendent in 1904. Athletic hero Jim Thorpe entered the school in 1907 and joined its football team under coachGlenn Warner ("Pop" Warner) in 1908. Playing halfback, Jim Thorpe led the team to startling upset victories over powerhouses Harvard, Army, and theUniversity of Pennsylvania in 1911-12, bringing nationwide attention to the school. Carlisle Indian School closed in 1918.

The Dickinson School of Law ended its affiliation with Dickinson College in 1914, against much protest from locals, and reorganized as an independent institution. Dickinson School of Law merged into The Pennsylvania State University in 1997 as Penn State Dickinson School of Law.

The Carlisle Historic District, Carlisle Indian School, Hessian Powder Magazine, Carlisle Armory, and Old West, Dickinson College are listed on theNational Register of Historic Places.^[6]

Geography[edit]

Carlisle is located at 40°12′9″N 77°11′42″W (40.202553, −77.195016) at an elevation of 479 feet (146 m).^[7][8] The borough lies in the Cumberland Valley, a section of the Great Appalachian Valley, on the south side of Conodoguinet Creek, a tributary of the Susquehanna River. Letort Spring Run, a tributary of Conodoguinet Creek, runs north through the eastern part of the borough.

Carlisle lies in south-central Pennsylvania at the intersection of Interstate 76 (Pennsylvania Turnpike) and Interstate 81 roughly 20 miles (32 km) west-southwest of Harrisburg, the state capital. It is approximately 69 mi (111 km) northwest of Baltimore and 108 mi (174 km) west-northwest of Philadelphia.^[9]According to the United States Census Bureau, Carlisle has a total area of 5.4 square miles (14 km²), all of it land.

Industry[edit]

Carlisle's Main Industry: Carlisle Tire and Rubber Company (Founded 1917), Masland Carpets (Founded 1866), and Frog Switch Manufacturing (Founded 1876 by John Hays).

Climate[edit]

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.^[10] 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.^[11]

Demographics[edit]

As of the census^[12] of 2000, there were 17,970 people, 7,426 households, and 4,010 families residing in the borough. Thepopulation density was 3,308.9 people per square mile (1,277.8/km²). There were 8,032 housing units at an average density of 1,479.0 per square mile (571.1/km²). The racial makeup of the borough was 88.93% White, 6.92% African American, 0.14% Native American, 1.60% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.71% from other races, and 1.69% from two or more races.Hispanic 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.

Education[edit]

Colleges and universities[edit]

• Dickinson College
• Penn State Dickinson School of Law
• U.S. Army War College

Public school[edit]

• Carlisle Area School District

Private schools[edit]

As reported by the National Center for Educational Statistics^[13]

• 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

Print[edit]

Carlisle has one daily newspaper, The Sentinel.^[14]