Building on our past to create a legacy for our future


Connecting our environmental and social history to today's issues.

Preserving Heritage In the South Mountain Region: A look into innovative partnerships around the mountain

Wednesday, February 9, 2011 
Cumberland County Historical Society
21 North Pitt Street Carlisle, PA 
12:15 p.m., brown bag lunch, bring your lunch and coffee and cookies provided


Speaker: Kimberly Williams, South Mountain Partnership Co-Lead and Landscape Protection Coordinator, Appalachian Trail Conservancy


The South Mountain Region has a complex and rich story worth telling and preserving.  South Mountain of Central Pennsylvania holds in its forested slopes layers of history. It holds stories and remnants which are key ingredients to the region’s sense of place.  Discover overlapping themes of stories and remnants and how they are RELEVANT TODAY, including:


Natural wealth. The mountain’s natural wealth has a direct connection to the surrounding valley’s agricultural abundance and early prospering industries. Today we are learning new ways to profit from our wealth while conserving for future generations.
Refuge. The mountain served as a place of refuge to those fleeing from slavery on the Underground Railroad and those fleeing poor health at the South Mountain Restoration Center. Today, the mountain serves as a refuge of recreation that serves millions with major icons like the Appalachian National Scenic Trail and one of the largest intact forests near D.C. and Baltimore.
Conflict. Human conflict in the past several hundred years has direct tie to the mountain like the Civil War’s Battle of Monterrey Pass and the housing of a WWII Prisoner of War Camp. Today conflict over the preservation of our heritage and natural resources provides chances for new innovative ways to resolve conflict and increase collaboration.


Learn how these themes are relevant today, as they tie in directly into our sense of place and economic progress. Learn what the South Mountain Partnership, a unified group of private citizens, business, not for profit organizations and governmental officials, is doing to promote and preserve our rich heritage.