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Cumberland County, Pennsylvania
Seal of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania
Seal
Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Cumberland County
Location in the state of Pennsylvania
Map of the U.S
Pennsylvania's location in the U.S.
Founded January 27, 1750
Seat Carlisle
Largest city Carlisle
Area
 - Total
 - Land
 - Water

551 sq mi (1,427 km²)
550 sq mi (1,424 km²)
1 sq mi (3 km²), 0.18%
Population
 - (2020)
 - Density

259,469
428/sq mi (165.3/km²)
Website www.ccpa.net

Cumberland County is a county located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and is one of three counties comprising the HarrisburgCarlisle Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of 2020, the population was 259,469.

History[]

Middle Springs Pennsylvania Presbyterian Church Plaque

Plaque at Middle Spring Presbyterian Church

Cumberland County was first settled by a majority of Scots-Irish immigrants who arrived in this area about 1730. English and German settlers constituted about ten percent of the early population. The settlers originally mostly devoted the area to farming and later developed other trades.[1] These settlers built the Middle Spring Presbyterian Church, among the oldest houses of worship in central Pennsylvania, in 1738 near present day Shippensburg, Pennsylvania.

The General Assembly (legislature) of the Pennsylvania colony on January 27, 1750, created Cumberland County from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, naming it for Cumberland, England. Its county seat is Carlisle[2]. The county also lies within the Cumberland Valley adjoining the Susquehanna River at its eastern border, stretching approximately 42 miles from the borough of Shippensburg on the west to the Susquehanna River in east Cumberland County.

Shipoldmain

"Old Main" at Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania

The oldest towns in the county are Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, and Carlisle, Pennsylvania, each with its unique history. Shippensburg is home to Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania, one of 14 universities of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. Carlisle is also home to Dickinson College, established in 1773, and the Penn State Dickinson School of Law.

USArmyWarCollege

The United States Army War College is a United States Army school located in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, on the 500 acre (2 km²) campus of the historic Carlisle Barracks, a military post dating back to the 1770s. It caters to high-level military personnel and civilians and prepares them for strategic leadership responsibilities. It is the U. S. Army's most senior military educational institution.

During the Gettysburg campaign of the American Civil War in the summer of 1863, Confederate troops marched through the Cumberland Valley, briefly occupying much of Cumberland County.

In the 20th century, the suburbs of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, the state capital, expanded extensively into eastern Cumberland County. Carlisle also developed suburbs in adjoining townships.

Geography[]

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 551 square miles (1,427.1 km2), of which 550 square miles (1,424.5 km2) is land and 1 square mile (2.6 km2) (0.18%) is water.

Adjacent counties[]

Major highways[]

  • I-76 Pennsylvania Turnpike logo Interstate 76 (Pennsylvania Turnpike)
  • I-81 Interstate 81
  • I-83 Interstate 83
  • US 11 U.S. Route 11
  • US 15 U.S. Route 15

  • PA-34 Pennsylvania Route 34
  • PA-74 Pennsylvania Route 74
  • PA-581 Pennsylvania Route 581
  • PA-641 Pennsylvania Route 641
  • PA-944 Pennsylvania Route 944

Recreation[]

There are three Pennsylvania state parks in Cumberland County.

  • Colonel Denning State Park
  • Kings Gap Environmental Education and Training Center
  • Pine Grove Furnace State Park

Demographics[]

Historical populations
Census Pop.
1790 18,208
1800 25,386 39.4%
1810 26,757 5.4%
1820 23,606 −11.8%
1830 29,226 23.8%
1840 30,953 5.9%
1850 34,327 10.9%
1860 40,098 16.8%
1870 43,912 9.5%
1880 45,977 4.7%
1890 47,271 2.8%
1900 50,344 6.5%
1910 54,479 8.2%
1920 58,578 7.5%
1930 68,236 16.5%
1940 74,806 9.6%
1950 94,457 26.3%
1960 124,816 32.1%
1970 158,177 26.7%
1980 178,541 12.9%
1990 195,257 9.4%
2000 213,670 9.4%
2010 235,406 10.2%
Data from 1790 to 1960 from [1].
Included territory of Perry County, Pennsylvania, until 1820.
Perry County split in 1820 with 11,342 residents in 1820.

As of the census[3] of 2000, there were 213,674 people, 83,015 households, and 56,118 families residing in the county. The population density was 388 people per square mile (150/km²). There were 86,951 housing units at an average density of 158 per square mile (61/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 94.40% White, 2.36% Black or African American, 0.13% Native American, 1.67% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.43% from other races, and 0.97% from two or more races. 1.35% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 35.3% were of German, 10.6% American, 10.1% Irish, 7.5% English and 6.8% Italian ancestry according to Census 2000. 94.7% spoke English and 1.4% Spanish as their first language.

There were 83,015 households out of which 29.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.50% were married couples living together, 8.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.40% were non-families. 26.70% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.30% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.41 and the average family size was 2.92.

In the county, the population was spread out with 22.00% under the age of 18, 10.60% from 18 to 24, 28.50% from 25 to 44, 24.10% from 45 to 64, and 14.90% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 95.20 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.70 males.

Its per capita income is $31,627, making it the wealthiest Pennsylvania county outside greater Philadelphia, and fifth wealthiest overall.

Government and politics[]

For most of its history, Cumberland County has been a Republican Party stronghold in presidential elections, with only nine Democratic Party candidates having managed to win the county from 1880 to the present day. The most recent Democrat to win the county in a presidential election was Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964 as he won in a landslide statewide & nationally. As a testament to the county's status as a Republican Party stronghold, Barack Obama in 2008 and Joe Biden in 2020 are the lone Democrats to win forty percent of the county's votes since Johnson's 1964 win.

United States presidential election results for Cumberland County, Pennsylvania[4]
Year Republican Democratic Third party
No.  % No.  % No.  %
2020 77,212 54.30% 62,245 43.78% 2,730 1.92%
2016 69,076 55.94% 47,085 38.13% 7,325 5.93%
2012 64,809 58.29% 44,367 39.90% 2,015 1.81%
2008 63,739 56.00% 48,306 42.44% 1,780 1.56%
2004 67,648 63.77% 37,928 35.75% 506 0.48%
2000 54,802 62.17% 31,053 35.23% 2,289 2.60%
1996 43,943 55.63% 28,749 36.40% 6,293 7.97%
1992 43,447 51.37% 26,635 31.49% 14,491 17.13%
1988 47,292 65.29% 24,613 33.98% 528 0.73%
1984 49,282 69.29% 21,374 30.05% 467 0.66%
1980 41,152 61.18% 19,789 29.42% 6,319 9.39%
1976 39,950 62.16% 23,008 35.80% 1,312 2.04%
1972 42,099 72.87% 14,562 25.20% 1,114 1.93%
1968 32,908 61.54% 15,467 28.93% 5,097 9.53%
1964 23,685 46.88% 26,633 52.71% 207 0.41%
1960 35,636 68.79% 15,968 30.83% 197 0.38%
1956 29,468 68.10% 13,651 31.55% 153 0.35%
1952 26,302 67.17% 12,762 32.59% 91 0.23%
1948 18,028 60.71% 11,421 38.46% 246 0.83%
1944 17,782 59.30% 12,068 40.25% 134 0.45%
1940 15,297 49.15% 15,758 50.63% 68 0.22%
1936 14,912 43.83% 18,850 55.41% 259 0.76%
1932 13,098 50.86% 12,086 46.93% 567 2.20%
1928 19,170 78.08% 5,189 21.14% 192 0.78%
1924 10,196 53.22% 7,643 39.89% 1,321 6.89%
1920 8,579 54.73% 6,455 41.18% 640 4.08%
1916 5,296 42.96% 6,432 52.17% 601 4.87%
1912 2,566 21.91% 5,023 42.89% 4,123 35.20%
1908 6,261 51.35% 5,403 44.32% 528 4.33%
1904 7,138 56.74% 5,038 40.05% 404 3.21%
1900 5,587 49.06% 5,428 47.66% 374 3.28%
1896 6,178 52.30% 5,202 44.04% 432 3.66%
1892 4,520 44.06% 5,446 53.09% 293 2.86%
1888 4,693 45.36% 5,386 52.05% 268 2.59%
1884 4,659 45.74% 5,375 52.77% 151 1.48%
1880 4,431 44.17% 5,462 54.45% 138 1.38%



As of November 1, 2021, there are 182,729 registered voters in Cumberland County.[5]

  • Republican: 89,697 (49.09%)
  • Democratic: 67,062 (34.32%)
  • Independent: 21,808 (11.93%)
  • Third Parties: 8,519 (4.66%)

The Republican Party has been dominant in Cumberland County politics since before the American Civil War, with the victories of Robert P. Casey for governor in 1990, Bob Casey Jr. for state treasurer in 2004 and Tom Wolf for governor in 2018 being among the few times where a statewide Democrat carried the county. The county commissioner majority, all row offices, and all legislative seats serving Cumberland are held by Republicans.

County commissioners[]

  • Vince DiFilippo, Republican
  • Jean Foschi, Democrat
  • Gary Eichelberger, Chairman, Republican[6]

Other county offices[]

  • Clerk of Courts, Dennis Lebo, Republican
  • Controller, Alfred Whitcomb, Republican
  • Coroner Charles Hall, Republican
  • District Attorney, M.L."Skip" Ebert, Republican
  • Prothonotary, Dale Sabadish, Republican
  • Recorder of Deeds, Tammy L. Shearer, Republican
  • Register of Wills, Lisa M. Grayson, Esq., Republican
  • Sheriff, R. Ron Anderson, Republican
  • Treasurer, John Gross, Republican

State Representatives[]

  • Mark K. Keller, Republican, 86th district
  • Greg Rothman, Republican, 87th district
  • Sheryl M. Delozier, Republican, 88th district
  • Dawn W. Keefer, Republican, 92nd district
  • Torren C. Ecker Republican, 193rd district
  • Barbara Gleim, Republican, 199th district[7]

State Senators[]

  • Judy Ward, Republican, 30th district
  • Mike Regan, Republican, 31st district
  • Doug Mastriano, Republican, 33rd district[7]

United States House of Representatives[]

  • Scott Perry, Republican, 10th district
  • John Joyce, Republican, 13th district

United States Senate[]

  • Pat Toomey, Republican
  • Bob Casey, Democrat

Municipalities[]

Map of Cumberland County Pennsylvania With Municipal and Township Labels

Map of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania with Municipal Labels showing Boroughs (red), Townships (white), and Census-designated places (blue).

Under Pennsylvania law, there are four types of incorporated municipalities: cities, boroughs, townships, and, in at most two cases, towns. The following boroughs and townships are located in Cumberland County:

Boroughs[]

  • Mount Holly Springs
  • New Cumberland
  • Newburg
  • Newville
  • Shippensburg
  • Shiremanstown
  • Wormleysburg

Townships[]

  • Cooke Township
  • Dickinson Township
  • East Pennsboro Township
  • Hampden Township
  • Hopewell Township
  • Lower Allen Township
  • Lower Frankford Township
  • Lower Mifflin Township
  • Middlesex Township
  • Monroe Township
  • North Middleton Township
  • North Newton Township
  • Penn Township
  • Shippensburg Township
  • Silver Spring Township
  • South Middleton Township
  • South Newton Township
  • Southampton Township
  • Upper Allen Township
  • Upper Frankford Township
  • Upper Mifflin Township
  • West Pennsboro Township

Unincorporated communities and Census-designated places[]

Census-designated places are geographical areas designated by the U.S. Census Bureau for the purposes of compiling demographic data. They are not actual jurisdictions under Pennsylvania law. Other unincorporated communities, such as villages, may be listed here as well.

  • Boiling Springs
  • Enola
  • Grantham
  • Lower Allen
  • New Kingstown
  • Plainfield
  • Schlusser
  • Summerdale
  • West Fairview

Education[]

Colleges and universities[]

  • Central Pennsylvania College
  • Dickinson College
  • Messiah College
  • Penn State Dickinson School of Law
  • Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania
  • U.S. Army War College

Community, Junior and Technical Colleges[]

  • ITT Technical Institute

Public School Districts[]

Map of Cumberland County Pennsylvania School Districts

Map of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania School Districts

  • Big Spring School District
  • Camp Hill School District
  • Carlisle Area School District
  • Cumberland Valley School District
  • East Pennsboro Area School District
  • Mechanicsburg Area School District
  • Shippensburg Area School District
  • South Middleton School District
  • West Shore School District

Public Charter Schools[]

  • Commonwealth Connections Academy Charter School - Mechanicsburg[8][9]

Area Vocational Technical School[]

  • Cumberland-Perry AVTS

Head Start PreSchool Programs[]

Head Start is a federally and stats funded preschool program for low income children. The programs serve 3 and 4 year olds. In order to participate the family income must be below federal poverty guidelines.[10]

  • Capital Area Head Start
  • Shippensburg Head Start Program

Private Schools[]

As reported by the National Center for Educational Statistics[11]

  • Allen Mennonite School - Dillsburg
  • Berean Christian Day School - Newville
  • Best Friends - New Cumberland
  • Bethel Christian Academy - Carlisle
  • Bible Baptist School - Shiremanstown
  • Blue Ridge Mennonite School - Carlisle
  • Brookside Montessori School - Camp Hill
  • Chesterbrook Academy - Camp Hill
  • Chestnut Groove School - Shippensburg
  • Children's School of New Cumberland - New Cumberland
  • Dickinson College Children's Center - Carlisle
  • Emmanuel Baptist Christian Academy - Mechanicsburg
  • Faith Tabernacle School - Mechanicsburg
  • Good Shepherd Elementary School - Camp Hill
  • Harrisburg Academy - Wormleysburg
  • Hickory Lane School - Newburg
  • Hidden Valley School - Carlisle
  • Kindercare Learning Center - Mechanicsburg
  • Learning and Sharing - New Cumberland
  • Living Faith School - Shippensburg
  • Meadow Run - Newburg
  • Mechanicsburg Learning Center - Mechanicsburg
  • Middle Run Parochial School - Shippensburg
  • Oak Grove Parochial School - Shippensburg
  • Oakwood Baptist Day School - Camp Hill
  • Otterbein School - Newburg
  • Quarry Hill School - Newville
  • Rocky View School Parochial - Newville
  • South Mountain Parochial School - Shippensburg
  • South Mountain Parochial School - Newville
  • Spring HIll Parochial School - Shipensburg
  • St. Joseph School - Mechaniscburg
  • St Patrick School - Carlisle
  • St Theresa Elementary School - New Cumberland
  • Sunset Amish School - Newburg
  • The Children's Garden of St Johns Lutheran Church - Shiremanstown
  • The Christian School of Grace Baptist Church - Carlisle
  • The Goddard School - Enola
  • The Goddard School - Mechanicsburg
  • The Learning Center - Camp Hill
  • Trinity High School - Camp Hill
  • Yellow Breeches Education Center - Boiling Springs

Public Libraries[]

See also[]

  • Harrisburg Regional Chamber
  • List of municipal authorities in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania
  • National Register of Historic Places listings in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania

References[]

  1. ^ Wayland F. Dunaway, The Scotch-Irish of Colonial Pennsylvania; University of North Carolina Press, 1944, p. 60.
  2. ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx. Retrieved 2011-06-07. 
  3. ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
  4. ^ Leip, David. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS. 
  5. ^ "Voter registration statistics by county". 2021-11-02. https://www.dos.pa.gov/VotingElections/OtherServicesEvents/VotingElectionStatistics/Documents/currentvotestats.xls. . Dos.state.pa.us. Retrieved on 2021-11-02.
  6. ^ "Meet the Commissioners | Cumberland County, PA - Official Website" (in en). https://www.ccpa.net/1938/Meet-the-Commissioners. 
  7. ^ a b Center, Legislativate Data Processing. "Find Your Legislator" (in en). http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/home/findyourlegislator/county_list.cfm?CNTYLIST=Cumberland. 
  8. ^ Palleschi, Amanda. Enrollment in cyber charter schools booming in Pennsylvania despite friction with school districts, The Patriot News, November 30, 2009
  9. ^ Pennsylvania Department of Education - Operating Charter Schools in Pennsylvania Report. September 2009.
  10. ^ 2009-Cumberland County Report Card Early Childhood Education. United Way of Carlisle and Cumberland County. June 2009
  11. ^ ies, National Center for Education Statistics, US Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, Private School Universe Survey 2008

External links[]

Coordinates: 40°10′N 77°16′W / 40.17, -77.27


This page uses content from the English language Wikipedia. The original content was at Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with this Familypedia wiki, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons License.
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