Franklin county military trail of history brochure issuu

The

Franklin County

MILITARY

Trail of History A Self Guided Tour

Franklin County Military Trail of History│GREAT MOMENTS│ 1

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The Franklin County Military Trail Of History The trail begins at Letterkenny Chapel & Franklin County Veterans and 9/11 Memorial Park.

2171 Carbaugh Avenue, Chambersburg, PA

The Franklin County Veterans Memorial Park and Military Trail is a vision ten years in the making. So many Americans are touched by military history, be it through the service of a parent, the loss of a loved one, or the recognition of valor. Military history is the blueprint of America’s history, and it is certainly true in Franklin County. From the pre-Revolutionary War to the recent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, Franklin County has many stories of its military men and women’s contributions to the nation. These important stories are the fiber of American character. They are an essential part of American heritage, and they pay tribute to the people who secured and protected America.

Franklin County honors veterans every day of the year with the Franklin County Military Trail of History.

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Letterkenny Army Depot 2171 Carbaugh Avenue, Chambersburg, Pa 17201 The directive to establish an ordinance depot in Franklin County was issued by Secretary of War, Henry L. Stinson on December 18, 1941. This allowed the federal government to acquire 21,000 acres of land in Letterkenny Township for use for ammunition storage.

Construction crews built 798 underground igloos, 17 warehouses and 12 above- ground magazines on the property that became known as the Letterkenny Ordnance Depot.

The first shipment of ammunition arrived by railroad on September 23, 1942. Throughout the war years, more than three million tons of supplies were moved to the facility. The depot became one of the largest depots of its kind. With so many men called into the service of their country, women, and 1,200 Italian prisoners of war became the primary

workforce. Letterkenny was called the Springboard of the invasion of 1944.

HAWK system. Projects involving the Sparrow and Sidewinder missiles were assigned to the depot.

In the 1950s the depot mission became a peaceful one.

Enormous amounts of vehicles and unused ammunition were returned to Letterkenny. By the time of the Korean War, the workforce reached over 6,500.

By July 1, 1954, the depot officially was named a permanent military installation.

In the 1990s, Letterkenny became the center for all Tactical Missile Systems for the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines.

In 2001 the depot was recognized as the Center for Industrial and Technical Excellence for Air Defense and Tactical Missile Ground Support Equipment and also for the Mobile Electric Power Generation Equipment.

In 1962, the depot was renamed the Letterkenny Army Depot.

When the Vietnam War began, work increased as the workers of the depot supported our troops.

During the 1970s and 1980s the depot evolved with new missions including being the headquarters of the U.S. Army Depot System Command and became the place for the army to store war reserve stock. Letterkenny became the single largest repair center for

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The depot received eight Shingo Prize awards starting in 2005 for excellent work in various systems.

The depot celebrated its 70th anniversary in 2012. It is the largest employer of Franklin County with 3,600 employees and pours over a quarter of a billion dollars into the local economy annually.

Letterkenny Chapel 2171 Carbaugh Avenue, Chambersburg, Pa 17201 The Letterkenny Army Depot held over 1,200 Italian prisoners captured by the Allies in October 1943 when the Italians surrendered. These members of the 1st Italian Battalion helped build many buildings at the depot.

In 1945, those prisoners of war built this chapel. The men used stone from many of the original farmhouses on the site. The chapel features a 65-ft. Florentine belfry, a San Francisco entrance, and a Roman interior. The chapel was dedicated by the Apostolic Nuncio (the Pope’s Ambassador to the United States) to commemorate peace and reconciliation between Italy and the United States.

It remained a military chapel for more than 35 years. The chapel today is operated by the Letterkenny Chapel Standing Committee and serves as an ecumenical, interfaith and multicultural center used for both fellowship and worship.

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Franklin County Veterans and 9/11 Memorial Park Adjacent to 2171 Carbaugh Avenue, Chambersburg, Pa 17201 In October 2011, ground was broken for the Franklin County Veterans and 9/11 Memorial Park. On May 19, 2012 (Armed Forces Day), the county memorial was dedicated by the First Counselor to the Apostolic Nuncio, the Vatican’s Ambassador to the United States, just as was done by the Apostolic Nuncio for the military Chapel in 1945. The United Churches of the Chambersburg Area developed the memorial park as a place for reflection and remembrance, to memorialize all those who lost their lives on September 11, 2001, and to pay tribute to Franklin County Veterans and First Responders.

The 2,000 pound sculpture, designed by local artist Michael Fisher and fabricated by Sunset Metal Works, points to the heavens. The memorial itself is

made from three steel beams salvaged from the World Trade Center. A time capsule in the ground at this site contains dust from Ground Zero.

Also contained in the time capsule are descriptive writings and maps from the 9/11 attacks, brochures and photographs of this project.

The vision of the Franklin County Veteran’s Memorial for the veterans of all wars was originally developed by the late Senator Pennsylvania Terry Punt.

NEXT SITE: Rocky Spring Presbyterian Church & Graveyard. Follow Carbaugh Avenue to Letterkenny Road and turn left. Continue on Letterkenny Road until just past the intersection of Funk Road.

Church is on the right.

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Rocky Spring Presbyterian Church & Graveyard 1963 Rocky Spring Road Chambersburg, Pa 17201

This church may have been one of the most patriotic congregations in the valley. At the outset of the American Revolution, church pastor Rev. John Craighead delivered an inspirational sermon, and all but one or two of the adult men in the congregation marched off to join the Revolutionary War. According to the church’s history, their congregation produced one general, four colonels, twelve captains, and a like number of officers in the Continental Army.

Craighead is buried in the church cemetery as is General Samuel Culbertson, a veteran of the Revolutionary War. The congregation was established in 1738 and was made up mostly of Scots-Irish immigrants. The church building was constructed in the summer of 1794.

NEXT SITE: Founding Family Park off first block of North Main Street. From Rocky Spring Church, turn right onto Letterkenny Road, which becomes Franklin Street. At the intersection of Franklin & King Streets, turn left onto King Street and continue to North Main Street. Turn right onto North Main Street and travel one-half block. Turn right into the Founding Family Park.

FAST FACT:

Molly Cochran Corbin, the first woman to receive a military pension and the only Revolutionary soldier to be buried at West Point with honors, was born in Franklin County. She accompanied her husband to the Revolutionary War. When he was fatally wounded at the Battle of Fort Washington, she took over firing his cannon.

Her birthplace is on Letterkenny Road West, opposite the site of the Cumberland Valley Animal Shelter.

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Founding Family Park/Chamber’s Fort Along West King Street Chambersburg, Pa 17201 Franklin County was the colonial frontier of America, and the people on the frontier lived with the impacts of the French & Indian War. Following the defeat of British General Braddock in 1755, the French and their Indian allies struck the Pennsylvania frontier.

min Chamber--his son James, and his grandson Benjamin returning in 1781 from six year so serving the in the Continental Army. James Chambers led Chambers Rifles of Thompson’s Rifle Battalion. Benjamin, his son marched with his father to wage war at age eleven.

Benjamin Chambers, a Scots-Irish immigrant, had been granted a Blunston License by William Penn.

He developed a 400 acre plantation with a gristmill that became the original settlement of Chambersburg, and the first settlement in Franklin County.

The sculpture of “The Homecoming” was Wayne Hyde of Bedford, Pennsylvania.

To protect his home and mills, he erected a stockade with a lead roof to protect the structure from flaming arrows. The fort was adjoined by water on three sides, from Falling Springs and Conococheague Creek, aiding its defense and habitability.

A statue on the site called “The Homecoming”, depicts the founder of Chambersburg--Benja-

The Fort Chambers Park was dedicated on October 18, 2008. Funding for the Borough of Chambersburg’s park was provided by public and private partnership in cooperation with federal funds.

Also of note in Founding Family Park is the memorial to WW II veterans killed in action as well as the Korean War Memorial. Both are located behind “The Homecoming” statue.

NEXT SITE: Walk toward King Street to the Fort Chambers historic marker.

The Homecoming depicts town founder Benjamin Chambers welcoming son James and grandson Benjamin home after the Revolutionary War. The statue is in the center of the Founding Family Park.

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Thompson’s Rifle Battalion Founding Family Park, off N. Main Street, Chambersburg, Pa. 17021 Marker is across the foot bridge, which spans Falling Spring.

This Pennsylvania historic marker identifies the first company of Franklin County from the Revolutionary War. The Colony of Pennsylvania on June 22, 1775 authorized the raising of riflemen companies from Pennsylvania. This regiment, including a company from Cumberland County (now Franklin County), marched to Massachusetts and was a group of sharpshooters who participated in the Siege of Boston. The regiment was raised by Colonel William Thompson. The local company, Company A, was led

by Captain James Chambers of Chambersburg. His company included one captain, three lieutenants, four sergeants, four corporals, a drummer or trumpeter, and sixty-eight privates.

It is mentioned in the Military Journal of the Revolution that “these men are remarkable for the accuracy of their aim; striking a mark with great certainty at two hundred yards distance.”

On March 11, 1776, these men were re-enlisted into

the Continental Army. On July 1, 1776 they were officially designated as the First Pennsylvania Regiment of the Continental Line. They also saw action at the Battle of Long Island in August 27, 1776.

Colonel Thompson was Irish. His family immigrated to Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Thompson was captured on June 8, 1776 at a battle at Trios-Riviéres in Quebec and remained a prisoner of war for four years.

James Chambers led the regiment to action at the Battle of Brandywine on September 11, 1777.

Chambers commanded the regiment for the remainder of the war. He eventually obtained the rank of Brigadier General.

The First Pennsylvania Regiment mustered out of service on November 3, 1783.

NEXT SITE: Continue walking toward King Street.

Ash Tree Memorial on right.

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Green Ash Tree Memorial Adjacent to Chamber’s Fort Marker, Chambersburg, Pa 17201

The Green Ash Tree Memorial is a tribute to the sixteen million uniformed soldiers of World War II. Each Green Ash is a direct descendant of the Green Ash Tree growing at the birthplace of U. S. President Dwight David Eisenhower in Dennison, Texas. The project is known as “Operation Silent Witness.”

NEXT SITE: From Founding Family Park, walk onto Main Street toward Memorial Square. At the center of Memorial Square is Memorial Fountain.

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Memorial Fountain & Bronze Civil War Soldier Crossroads of Routes 11 & 30 (Memorial Square), Chambersburg, Pa 17201

Memorial Fountain honors the town’s role in Civil War history.

The fountain was dedicated on July 17, 1878 to honor more than 5,000 men of Franklin County who served in the Civil War. Included in the fountain memorial is a bronze Union soldier, who guards against future invasions. A memorial marker at the foot of the soldier describes the burning of Chambersburg on July 30, 1864. Confederate soldiers, part of General Jubal Early’s command and led by General John McCausland, demanded

a ransom of $100,000 in gold or $500,000 in Yankee dollars.

When town officials were unable to raise the money, the rebels burned 550 buildings in the town.

The Ladies and Soldiers Monumental Association, raised money to build the fountain and soldier statue. The statue became a memorial that commemorated a victory on the battlefield while at the same time being placed along the route General Robert E. Lee and his men marched toward infamy at Gettysburg.

Cannons were added to the memorial in 1883 but removed in 1930.

A bronze star in the street in Memorial Square marks the site of the meeting between Generals Robert E. Lee and A.P. Hill where they made the decision to move east toward Gettysburg and intercept the Union troops in the last days of June 1863. The Battle of Gettysburg ensued several days later.

Today, Memorial Fountain honors veterans of all American conflicts.

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FAST FACT:

Walter S. Sellers, pharmacist, lost his life in the sinking of the Battleship Maine, February 15, 1898.

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Franklin County Vietnam Veterans Memorial Located on Courthouse Plaza. in Downtown Chambersburg, Pa 17201 Facing the courthouse, it is on the north side of the plaza in front of the Commissioner’s Complex. 3,110 men and women from Franklin County served their country in Vietnam War. (This concludes the walking sites.)

NEXT SITE: From North Main Street, continue driving straight onto South Main Street. Go one block and turn left onto Queen Street. Continue driving. The Chambersburg Doughboy will be on the left, after passing 4th Street on approach to 6th Street.

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Chambersburg Doughboy East Point Memorial, Intersection of East Queen and Lincoln Way East, Chambersburg

The citizens of Franklin County came together on November 12, 1923, during Armistice Day celebrations to dedicate this Spirit of the American Doughboy, one of the pressed copper sculptures

by E.M. Viquesney. The memorial was erected to honor the men and women of Franklin County, who served in World War I. The memorial lists 91 names in three columns including four women who served in the nursing corps. The inscription includes the words “Greater love hath no man that this. That a man lay down his life for his friends.”

It also says “They shall live forevermore our glorious dead. 1917-1919 Erected to the memory of the men and women of Franklin County who gave their lives in the Word War.” The Viquesney statue was one of about 120 “Spirit of America Doughboy” statues produced in a Spencer, Indiana factory where the sculptor lived. The artist had taken two years to sculpt the soldier with great attention to detail including a gas mask, a hand grenade, and hobnails in his boots. The seven foot statues with a six foot concrete pedestal were sold for $1,000 and are evident in thirty states.

Mr. Viquesney, who died in 1946, said of the memorials “I do not urge the building of War Memorials to perpetuate WAR but to impress on American Youth the desirability of PEACE.” NEXT SITE: The next site is on Lincoln Way West.

Travel west on Route 30. Turn right onto 6th Street. Turn right onto Washington Street. Follow Washington Street to 3rd Street and turn right onto 3rd Street. Turn left onto Lincoln Way/ Route 30 and travel 2 miles.

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Mt. Vernon/Mt. Lebanon Cemetery Rt. 30 West, opposite the Food Lion Shopping Center in Chambersburg, Pa 17201 Twenty six black Civil War veterans who fought as members of regiments of the United States Colored Troops (USCT) are buried in this cemetery. Amongst them is Henry Watson (29th Connecticut Colored Infantry) who is also known to have arranged the meeting between Frederick Douglass and John Brown in a quarry in Chambersburg on August 19, 1859. The meeting was just prior to Brown’s

raid at Harpers Ferry on October 16 that same year. Watson, a free black barber, is also known to have helped fugitive slaves escape as a conductor in the Underground Railroad.

The cemetery has recently also been designated as a site in the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Program administered by the National Park Service. That designation provides recognition and

certification as well as allowing those caring for the site to apply for matching grants to make improvements to the site. Forty five sites have been so designated in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania including the John Brown/Mary Ritner Boarding House in Chambersburg and the Thaddeus Steven/Caledonia Iron Works in Greene Township.

Henry Watson Gravesite

FAST FACT:

Joseph Proctor, of Chambersburg, was a private of Company H of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry who was captured at James Island, SC in July 1863 and was held in the famous Andersonville Prison. Proctor survived the war and returned to Chambersburg.

NEXT SITE: Turn left onto Route 30 West and continue 11 miles.

Turn left onto Brooklyn Road.

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Fort Loudoun & James Smith & The Black Boys Off Route 30 West on Brooklyn Road, Fort Loudon, Pa 17224 Built as a provincial fort in 1756 by the Second Battalion of the Pennsylvania Regiment under the direction of Colonel John Armstrong, Fort Loudoun was used as a supply base for the Forbes Campaign.

It was named Fort Loudoun (one of several in the American colonies) as it was named after John Campbell, 4th Earl of Loudoun.

In 1765, the garrison of the fort played a key role in a colonial revolt by James Smith and the Black Boys. This military action centered on trading weapons with the Indians and pre-dated the Revolutionary War by ten years.

Called Black Boys because these white settlers of the Conococheague Valley wore blackened faces and led by James “Black Boy Jimmy” Smith, these raiders used Indian tactics to disrupt British shipments in the valley. Following the Black Boys Rebellion, the British evacuated the fort.

Historian Neil Swanson contended that the seeds of unrest of this country against the British were sown at Fort Loudoun.

The replica fort that stands on the original site today was constructed in 1993.

NEXT SITE: From Brooklyn Road, turn left onto U.S. 30 W and travel just under 2 miles. Turn left onto PA-75 S and turn right onto Keefer Drive in 5.5 miles.

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Mercersburg Area Veterans Memorial 100 Keefer Drive, Mercersburg, Pa 17236

The Mercersburg Area Veterans Memorial is a life-sized bronze statue of a soldier and the granite memorial honors veterans of all wars. On each face of the base of the monument are the insignias of each branch of military service.

The soldier is holding his firearm in his left hand, with his right hand posed on his helmet that rests on another firearm.

The memorial was unveiled on 11 a.m. on 11/11/2013 exactly 95 years after the official ending of World War I – that occurred on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918.

Members of the Henry Lackhove American Legion Post 517 conducted the memorial ceremony. A speaker at the service said the new monument would “serve as a tangible reminder of the service and sacrifice of our veterans of our community and surrounding acres.”

The project was the brainchild of former post commander Dale Thatcher who also designed the memorial. The cost of $75,000 and was raised through various fundraisers and through commuFAST FACT: 2,510 men and women from nity support with Franklin the soldier Countystatue served their country in the costing $30,000. Korean The memorial was War. built by Greencastle Bronze and Granite.

NEXT SITE: Turn right onto PA-416 S/PA-75 and travel 1/2 mile. Turn left onto Buchanan Trail W/N Main Street. Property is on the right.

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Stuart’s Headquarters/ Steiger House/Bridgeside 120 North Main Street, Mercersburg, Pa 17236

On October 10 1862, General J.E.B. Stuart used the Steiger home as a headquarters during his Pennsylvania Raid. On that day Stuart brought 1,800 mounted cavalry into Mercersburg.

From this home, Stuart raided the countryside, capturing over 1,000 horses and uniforms and shoes enough to for 2,000 Confederate soldiers. His raids shocked Pennsylvanians who had been led to believe the war was being conducted south of the Mason-Dixon Line. It struck fear into these rural Pennsylvanians who had to this point basically only read about the war.

When Stuart and his men left Mercersburg they took several hostages with them including the editor of the Mercersburg Good Intent newspaper. The newspaper man was released by the rebels when they cross the river back into Virginia.

Stuart’s success also led indirectly to Abraham Lincoln deciding to replace Union General George McClellan with General Ulysses S. Grant.

NEXT SITE: Continue on North Main Street and then onto Linden Street. Shortly, turn right onto Fairview Avenue.

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Zion Union Cemetery Bennett Avenue, just off Fairview Avenue, Mercersburg, Pa 17236 This cemetery, established in 1876, contains the graves of 36 veterans of the United States Colored Troops (USCT). It is believed that eighty eight blacks from Mercersburg enlisted in USCT regiments, with exactly half in the 54th or 55th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry.

The cemetery contains the remains of members of the 8th USCT, 22nd USCT, 24th USCT, 41st USCT, 45th USCT, and 127th USCT, plus the 54th and 55th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry and the 2nd U.S. Colored Cavalry.

The thirteen members of the 54th Massachusetts interred here are the largest group of burials from that regiment in any private cemetery.

Several hundred Franklin County black residents enlisted into the Union Army during the Civil War as part of the United States Colored Troops including at least eighty from Mercersburg. Those included members of the 54th and 55th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry and regiments such as the 5th USCT, 6th USCT, 8th USCT, 22nd USCT, 43rd USCT, and 45th USCT. Three of the men were from the same Mercersburg family – Cyrus, James and William Krunkleton all served in the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry NEXT SITE: Take 16 East/416 South/ Buchanan Trail about 18 miles to Waynesboro and turn right onto South Potomac Street.

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Grave of Henry Bonebrake Green Hill Cemetery 953 South Potomac Street, Waynesboro, Pa 17268

Henry G. Bonebrake Wearing his Medal of Honor

First Lt. Henry Bonebrake was born and lived in Waynesboro. As a member of Devin’s Division of the 17th Pennsylvania Volunteer Cavalry, Company G, he won the Medal of Honor for action in capturing the enemy’s flag at Five Forks, Virginia on April 1, 1865.

His citation reads “As one of the first of Devin’s Division to enter the works, he fought in a hand-to-hand struggle with a Confederate to capture his flag by superior physical strength.”

Bonebrake was born on June 21, 1838. He died on October 26, 1912. He is buried here.

NEXT SITE: Head northeast on S Potomac St toward W 6th Street and take the 2nd right onto W 5th Street. Turn left and then right onto PA-16 E/Buchanan Trail E/E Main Street. Red Run Park is on the left.

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9-11 Tribute Memorial at Red Run Park 12143 Buchanan Trail East, Waynesboro, Pa 17268

In 2011, artifacts of the World Trade Center were made available to municipalities throughout the United States. Washington Township requested and received an artifact, a 4-feet, 1088-lb. steel I-beam. This I-beam, along with artifacts of the Pentagon and Shanksville, are the centerpieces of the Washington Township’s 911 Tribute. The memorial was unveiled and dedicated on September 11, 2013.

NEXT SITE: Return to Route 16 and travel approximately 8.5 miles to Route 11. Turn right onto Route 11 and travel approximately 4 miles. The farm is on the left and is marked with a blue and gold, PA Museum marker.

Above: Reflect and remember at 911 Tribute in Red Run Park, amidst the beautiful and powerful South Mountain.

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Corporal Rihl Memorial at Fleming Farm Molly Pitcher Highway/Route 11, Greencastle The Confederate army and cavalry, an estimated forty-seven thousand men, marched through Greencastle and Chambersburg in late June enroute to Gettysburg.

Jenkin’s Cavalry led Rhode’s Infantry through Greencastle on June 23, 1863. They encountered a Union force near William Fleming’s farm along what today is Route 11. Jenkin’s force set up a skirmish line and fired on the Union men. The federals suffered two casualties, one killed and one wounded.

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s state legislature.

Dr. Franklin Bushey, a surgeon of the 4th Pennsylvania Cavalry, was one of the movers and shakers who led the movement to honor Corporal Rihl.

NEXT SITE: Travel about 20 miles on Route 11.

The man killed was Corporal William Rihl of Company C of the 1st N.Y. Cavalry. He had been shot through the head. Rihl, who grew up in Philadelphia, was the first Union soldier killed on Pennsylvania soil in the Civil War. Confederates buried Rihl in a shallow grave. Several days later his body was reinterred at the Lutheran Church cemetery on North Washington Street. On July 22, 1886 he was reinterred at the site where he was killed.

A year later this monument was built by the GAR Corporal Rihl Post #438 with funding provided by the

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Shippensburg Veteran’s Park Molly Pitcher Highway/Route 11, Shippensburg This park is the largest public park in Shippensburg.

The park includes memorials to over 5,000 area Americans, who served in WWII, the Korean War and the War in Vietnam. The memorials were dedicated on July 4, 1987. The project was paid for by contributions from over 250 local residents and businesses.

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial contains the name of 1,283 who served from July 1958 until May 1975. Its inscription reads: “This was a long war. History will judge its worthwhile outcome.”

The Korean War monument lists the names of 472 locals who were involved.

A supplemental list of 1,491 who served in WWII is also a part of this monument.

Additionally 609 served in the Civil War and 563 served in WWI. A water fountain in the park also serves as a dedication to those local servicemen and women who died in all wars.

The fountain is surrounded by a garden that contains the American, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and POW-MIA flags.

NEXT SITE: Continue on Route 11/King St. Turn left onto North Queen Street (at Sheetz).

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Locust Grove Cemetery North Queen Street, Shippensburg Shippensburg had slaves even before the American Revolution. They were brought here by the Scots-Irish immigrants. In the 1780s, Pennsylvania’s Gradual Emancipation Law called for an accounting of slaves. At that time, the Shippensburg area had 47 slaves. With blacks in the area, this necessitated a black burial ground.

James Burd included in his 1749 survey of Shippensburg a plot designated as “Negro Graveyard”.

That same plot was transferred to “the black people of Shippensburg”

by Edward Shippen Burd in 1842 “for the consideration of twenty cents a year and yearly forever which is to be and for the purpose of erecting a place of worship and Burying the Dead of the black people of Shippensburg and for no other purpose whatever.”

Forty-four colored veterans are buried here from the Civil War to the war in Vietnam. Those graves include twenty-six veterans of the Civil War. Twenty-two of those were enlisted in the United States Colored Troops, with three others were from the 54th and 55th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry with one a Marine. Those USCT regiments represented in the cemetery include the 3rd USCT, 22nd USCT, 24th USCT, 25th USCT, 32nd USCT, 43rd USCT, 45th USCT, 127th USCT and the 2nd U.S. Colored Cavalry.

Of those Civil War graves, more than two thirds had lived in Shippensburg at some time but had been born somewhere else.

NEXT SITE: Take I-81 to Exit 37 for PA-233 toward Newville. Turn right onto PA-233 S. Travel about 8 miles to blue and gold PA Museum marker.

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Camp Michaux at Pine Grove Furnace State Park Adjacent to 1100 Pine Grove Road, Gardners Prisoners of war from the surrender in World War II were held at two sites in Franklin County. Most were held at Letterkenny Army Depot.

Some captured German and Japanese naval officers and enlisted men were held here, at a secret interrogation camp located in the CCC Camp at Pine Grove Forest. Reportedly the prisoners were plied with alcohol to get them to talk. It is believed that their barracks were wired so American officials could eavesdrop on them.

It is thought that as many as 7,000 prisoners of war were interrogated here.

One of the barracks that is still standing along the Appalachian Trail contains the name Erich John Berlin at the top right of the porch foundation. Park historians believe he might have been a German prisoner of war.

Another building in the park was used to house horses that the guards might have needed had there been an attempt for the prisoners to escape. A marker that says “POW April 43 – May 46” and is the only marker regarding the prisoner of war camp that remains.

Pine Grove Furnace operated as a church camp until 1971. Some who attended the camp talked of remembering seeing paintings made by one of the German prisoners of war that hung in th recreation building.

FAST FACT:

6,460 men and women from Franklin County served their country in World War II.

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Explore More Military History at www.VeteranTrailPa.org

866-646-8060 | ExploreFranklinCountyPA.com Facebook.com/FCVBen | Twitter.com/FCVB DoDineStayFranklinCountyPA.com/Military

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