Cumberland Valley Railroad
Mechanicsburg, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
Incorporated in 1831. Completed, Lemoyne to Chambersburg, 1837; eventually, Harrisburg to Virginia. For over 80 years, vital to Valley's economic life; merged into Pennsylvania R.R., 1919. Passenger Station, Stationmaster's House here, built in the 1860s.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
Incorporated in 1831 and pushing rails from Lemoyne to Chambersburg by 1837, the Cumberland Valley Railroad became the economic spine of a fertile agricultural region. For more than eight decades it carried the Valley's produce and passengers, eventually reaching from Harrisburg toward Virginia before merging into the mighty Pennsylvania Railroad in 1919. The passenger station and stationmaster's house here date to the 1860s.
Why it matters
It captures the era when railroads knit together rural America, turning isolated farm valleys into arteries of a national economy.
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