FREE EVENT!!!
At Shippensburg University
Memorial Auditorium
September 29th, 2011 / 7-9 p.m.
Join Dr. Paul Marr, a professor of geography and earth science at Shippensburg University, at the Memorial Auditorium on campus.
The history and importance of transportation lines in the region will be the focus of the next free lecture in the South Mountain Speakers Series.
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"When we look closely at the Appalachian Mountains, the central feature is not the many peaks but a central valley running from Pennsylvania to Georgia. This Great Valley, known as the Cumberland Valley in Pennsylvania, has served as a vital transportation link for many centuries and has shaped the region's history in a wide variety of ways," said Allen Dieterich-Ward, an assistant professor of history at Shippensburg University and the chair of the South Mountain Partnership committee on the Speakers Series.
The relatively flat route funneled settlement to the south and west and attracted the attention of Confederate generals during the Civil War. Today, the I-81 Corridor is one of the nation's most important north-south routes and plays an important economic role for local communities.
Dr. Marr's expertise on transportation issues in the South Mountain region extends from published research on the colonial era to a 2008 report on warehousing and trucking industries in Franklin and Cumberland counties.
After the lecture, Dr. Marr will be joined for a panel discussion on contemporary land use issues by Steven Deck, who recently served as senior planner for a regional transit coordination study throughout south central Pennsylvania, and Kirk Stoner, planning director for Cumberland County.
