1. Cumberland County, established in 1750, lost its first courthouse to fire in 1845. This Courthouse was built in 1846 and still bears the scars of a Civil War shelling on July 1, 1863.
2. Carlisle's long tradition of education began early, with private academies flourishing by 1773. In 1837, Carlisle established Pennsylvania's first public high school. Dickinson College was chartered in 1783, followed by the Dickinson School of Law in 1836. Other local schools included Carlisle Commercial College and the Carlisle Indian Industrial School.
3. Mary (Ludwig) Hays McCauley, better known as Molly Pitcher, lived most of her life in Carlisle. She is traditionally believed to have carried water to thirsty troops at the Revolutionary War Battle of Monmouth, and to have taken her husband's place in battle. She is memorialized in the Old Graveyard.
4. Jim Thorpe, a Sac and Fox Indian from Oklahoma, arrived at the Carlisle Indian School in 1904. Widely considered the greatest athlete of the 20th century, he became the only Olympian ever to win gold medals in both the pentathlon and decathlon events, at the 1912 Games in Stockholm, Sweden.
5. Affording a spectacular view of the Cumberland Valley, Flat Rock, near Doubling Gap, has an elevation of nearly 2000 feet.
6. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Two Mile House was built in the 1820s, and served as a tavern for nearly 40 years. Named for its distance from the square of Carlisle, Two Mile House is operated by the Cumberland County Historical Society.
7. Cumberland County has always been a transportation hub; early Indian trails were followed by roads and railroad lines. By 1900, trolleys linked many local communities, and the opening of the Pennsylvania Turnpike in 1940 ushered in the era of the superhighway.
8. Proximity to plentiful fresh water was crucial to the success of Cumberland County's early settlements. Carlisle was founded on the banks of the LeTort Stream, which never freezes over and which is known worldwide for its brown trout and excellent fly-fishing.
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