1730Architecture
Chambersburg's settlement began in 1730, when water mills were built at Conococheague Creek and Falling Spring Creek.
1734Civil Rights
On March 30, 1734, Chambers received a "Blunston license" for 400 acres (160 ha), from a representative of the Penn family.
1744Architecture
In 1744, the road was completed through Harris's Ferry, Carlisle, Shippensburg, and Chambersburg to the Potomac River.
1748History
In 1748 a local militia was formed for protection against Indians, with Benjamin Chambers named as its colonel.
1750History
In May 1750, Benjamin Chambers helped remove settlers from the nearby Burnt Cabins, named after an incident.
1755Military
The area's population dropped from about 3,000 in 1755 as the war began, to about 300 during the conflict.
1763Military
European settlement in the area remained of questionable legality until the treaty ending the French and Indian War in 1763, because not all Indian tribes with land claims had s...
1764History
Most settlers did not return until after 1764 (when the peace treaty was signed between Great Britain and France).
1767Government
This dispute was not settled until 1767, with the border survey that resulted in the Mason-Dixon line.
1768History
Chambers gave the congregation land in 1768, for an annual rent of only a single rose.
1775Military
These troops were among the first non-New Englanders to join the siege of Boston, arriving on August 7, 1775.
1776Military
James Chambers fought for seven years during the revolution, reaching the rank of Colonel of Continental Army troops on September 26, 1776.
1780History
Later, the First Lutheran Church and Zion Reformed Church both organized in 1780 under similar terms, so these three churches came to be known as the "Rose Rent Churches".
1784Government
Then Lancaster County was split, with its western portion renamed as Cumberland County; finally another split (this time of Cumberland County) established Franklin County in 1784.
1785History
A Catholic community organized in 1785.
1786Military
Benjamin Chambers owned a black female slave sometime before the French and Indian War and twenty slaves were recorded as taxable property in 1786.
1794Military
President George Washington, while leading United States troops against the rebels, came through town on the way from Carlisle to Bedford, staying overnight on October 12, 1794.
1803Civil Rights
Chambersburg was incorporated on March 21, 1803, and declared the County Seat when the State Assembly established a formal government.
1811History
James African Methodist Episcopal Church dates its founding to members purchasing a log cabin from the expanding Catholic congregation in 1811, and the congregation continued an...
1818Disaster
The "Old Jail" was built in 1818, survived the fire of 1864 and is the oldest jail building in Pennsylvania.
1830Disaster
One of the cannons still remained in 1830, when it was fired to celebrate Independence Day that year.
1837Architecture
The Cumberland Valley Railroad was built in 1837 and was the area's center of economic activity for nearly 100 years.
1840History
The Jewish cemetery dates back to 1840.
1854Infrastructure
Until the completion of the Pennsylvania Railroad's main line in 1854, the fastest route from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia was by stagecoach from Pittsburgh to Chambersburg, and t...
1856History
Chambers, George (1856).
1859Military
=== Civil War era ===
==== Underground Railroad / John Brown ====
By 1859, Chambersburg's active community of free and enslaved blacks and sympathetic whites had attracted a ...
1862Military
==== First two Confederate occupations, selective burnings ====
During the American Civil War on October 10, 1862, Confederate Maj.
1863History
During the early days of the 1863 Gettysburg campaign, a Virginia cavalry brigade under Brig.
1864Disaster
==== July 30, 1864 devastation ====
The following year, Chambersburg was invaded for a third time, as cavalry, dispatched from the Shenandoah Valley by Jubal Early, arrived.
1865Military
Furthermore, when the Army of Northern Virginia surrendered on April 9, 1865, Early escaped to Texas by horseback, where he hoped to find a Confederate force still holding out.
1867Military
Living in Toronto, he wrote his memoir, A Memoir of the Last Year of the War for Independence, in the Confederate States of America, which focused on his Valley Campaign and was...
1869Government
== Education ==
=== Wilson College ===
Wilson College is a private, Presbyterian-related, liberal arts college founded in 1869 as a women's college and named for its first ma...
1878Military
On July 17, 1878, 15,000 people attended dedication of Memorial Fountain in the town's center, which honors the Civil War soldiers, and later Chambersburg's fighters in other wars.
1887History
Moriah First African Baptist Church dates to 1887.
1891Culture
=== Library ===
Coyle Free Library has roots going back to 1891, when a library of 166 books was organized by the local Afternoon Club.
1895Government
Over time, the number of eligible students declined, and in 1895 all of the schools closed except that located in the unincorporated village of Scotland about four miles (6 km) ...
1921History
=== National Register of Historic Places ===
The following places in Chambersburg are on the National Register of Historic Places:
=== Historic images ===
Colorized photograph...
1924Architecture
The building was completed in 1924, located at the corner of Second and Queen Streets.
1927Architecture
The Capitol Theatre was opened as a movie palace on Main Street in 1927.
1945History
Chambersburg.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
Chambersburg Community Development Committee (1945).
1955History
CASHS is accredited by the Middle States Association and has occupied its current facilities since 1955.
1963Military
"Prelude to Gettysburg: The Confederates Plunder Pennsylvania." Pennsylvania History 30.2 (1963): 123-157.
1971History
It was originally used as the sheriff's residence and had the longest continuous use of any jail in the state, operating until 1971.
1979Culture
Later the library was made part of the Franklin County Library and began to receive funds from the County and State, though the Afternoon Club still donated funds through at lea...
1989Military
Southern Revenge!: Civil War History of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania (White Mane Publishing Company, 1989).
1991Military
"Chambersburg: Anatomy of a Confederate Reprisal." American Historical Review 96#2 (1991): 432-455 in JSTOR on 1863
Bates, Samuel P.
2000History
== Demographics ==
As of the census of 2000, there were 17,862 people, 7,722 households, and 4,386 families residing in the borough.
2001History
Journalist David Brooks in 2001 used Chambersburg and Franklin County to typify Republican "Red America".
2003Architecture
In 2003, it reopened as the Capitol Theatre Center and is home to the Capitol Theatre Main Stage and Auditorium, Chambersburg Council for the Arts, Caledonia Theatre Company, Ch...
2004History
In 2004 Chambersburg had a per capita personal income (PCPI) of $28,208, below the national average of $33,050.
2006Architecture
Chambersburg's retail sector has grown quickly since 2006 with the opening of retail stores near the newly built Exit 17 of Interstate 81.
2008Education
As of July 2008, the current School Board President is Stanley Helman.
2009Education
In 2009, the school opened the first "green" campus building, housing the science and technology department and featuring a full-length waterfall which begins on the third floor...
2010History
The Chambersburg, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area includes surrounding Franklin County, and in 2010 included 149,618 people.
2011History
Until August 2011, J.
2013Education
Once an all women's school, it began admitting male students in 2013.
2016Government
According to the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, Chambersburg Borough is the thirteenth-largest municipality in Pennsylvania and the largest borou...
2018Government
Walter Bietsch became Mayor on January 2, 2018.
2020History
As of January 2020, the town council members are:
Sharon A.
2024Architecture
A member of the club, Blanche Coyle, left a bequest of $30,435 (~$680,746 in 2024) in 1915 to construct a library building.