Franklin County
Chambersburg, Franklin County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
Formed on September 9, 1784 from Cumberland County and named for Benjamin Franklin. Site of Falling Spring, noted limestone trout stream. Birthplace of James Buchanan, 15th President of the United States. Chambersburg, county seat, was laid out 1764.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
Formed from Cumberland County in 1784 and named for Benjamin Franklin, this county grew up in the Cumberland Valley along the routes leading south and west. Its seat, Chambersburg, was laid out in 1764, and the limestone waters of Falling Spring made it a noted trout stream. The county is also the birthplace of James Buchanan, the nation's fifteenth president.
Why it matters
As a valley thoroughfare bearing Franklin's name and the cradle of a U.S. president, Franklin County ties the everyday frontier to the highest offices of the young republic.
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Related people
- · Benjamin Franklin
- · James Buchanan
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Falling Spring Church
Chambersburg, PA · est. 1948
In the 1730s, waves of Scotch-Irish Presbyterians pushed west of the Susquehanna into the Cumberland Valley, carrying their faith and their meetinghouses with them. Falling Spring's congregation dates to 1734, and the stone sanctuary standing today rose in 1803 as the community matured from frontier outpost into settled town. Presbyterian churches like this one anchored the earliest permanent European settlement of the Pennsylvania backcountry.
Patrick Gass (1771-1870)
Guilford Township, PA · est. 2004
This Franklin County ground was the boyhood home of Patrick Gass, who left the Pennsylvania backcountry to become one of the most valued members of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. A skilled carpenter and soldier promoted to sergeant in 1804, he helped build the winter forts that carried the Corps of Discovery across the continent and later published his own journals of the journey. He went on to serve in the War of 1812, fighting at the fierce Battle of Lundy's Lane, and lived to the remarkable age of 99.
Joseph Armstrong
St. Thomas Township, PA · est. 1960
Joseph Armstrong settled this Franklin County land in the 1730s, on the contested edge of Pennsylvania's frontier. He served in the colonial Assembly and rose as a militia captain, and his home became a ranging station in 1757 for troops during the French and Indian War. It served the same purpose during Pontiac's War of 1763–64, when Native resistance again swept the backcountry.
Shippensburg
Southampton Township, PA · est. 1948
Founded in 1730 by Edward Shippen, this settlement became one of the earliest towns on Pennsylvania's colonial frontier and the second oldest west of the Susquehanna River. Its importance was such that when Cumberland County was organized, its first courts convened here in 1750-51 before a permanent seat was chosen. For early travelers and traders, Shippensburg was a vital waypoint on the edge of European settlement.