Old Court House
Shippensburg, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
"Widow Piper's Tavern," used for Cumberland County court-sessions, 1750-51, until a court house was erected at Carlisle, the county seat. The house is now the home of the Shippensburg Civic Club.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
Before Carlisle was chosen as the county seat, justice in the Cumberland frontier was dispensed at 'Widow Piper's Tavern' in Shippensburg, which hosted the county's court sessions in 1750 and 1751. Taverns often doubled as the civic centers of early settlements, serving as courtroom, meeting hall, and lodging all at once. The building endures today as the home of the Shippensburg Civic Club.
Why it matters
This tavern-courthouse captures how self-government took root in frontier America, where the ordinary buildings of daily life did double duty as the first seats of law and order.
Plan your visit
NearbyMake a day of it — museums, food, and places to stay near this marker.
Museums & culture
- Appalachian Trail Museum11.1 mi away
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Related people
- · Widow Piper
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Shippensburg - PLAQUE
Shippensburg, PA · est. 1925
Settled about 1733, this Cumberland Valley town was laid out and named for Edward Shippen, a Philadelphia merchant and mayor who later served as a paymaster in the Forbes Expedition against Fort Duquesne and helped found what became Princeton University. He came from a prominent colonial family; his grandfather of the same name had hosted William Penn and risen to chief justice of Pennsylvania. The town grew as a frontier gateway into the valley beyond.
Shippensburg
Shippensburg Township, PA · est. 1948
Edward Shippen laid out Shippensburg in 1730, planting one of the earliest English towns west of the Susquehanna River on what was then the raw edge of colonial Pennsylvania. As settlement pushed inland, the town became an important stopping point on the frontier and briefly served as the seat of newly formed Cumberland County, hosting its first courts in 1750-51 before the seat moved on. Second only to Carlisle in age among towns in the region, it anchored the advance of settlers into the Cumberland Valley.
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.
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.