Chambersburg, Pennsylvania

== History ==
=== European settlement ===
Native Americans living or hunting in the area during the 18th century included the six [[Iroquois]] tribes of a confederacy known as the Iroquois League or ''[[Haudenosaunee]]'', the [[Lenape]], and the [[Shawnee]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Bates|1887|pp=140–143}}</ref> The Lenape lived mostly to the east, with the Iroquois to the north, and the Shawnee to the south. Their traders, hunters, and warriors traveled on the north-south route sometimes called the "Virginia path" through the [[Cumberland Valley]], from New York through what became [[Carlisle, Pennsylvania|Carlisle]] and [[Shippensburg, Pennsylvania|Shippensburg]], then through what would become [[Hagerstown, Maryland]], crossing the [[Potomac River]] into the [[Shenandoah Valley]].<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://msaag.aag.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/12_Marr.pdf|journal=Middle States Geographer|date=2002|volume=35|pages=101–109|title=SHIPPENSBURG AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF OVERLAND TRANSPORTATION IN THE CUMBERLAND VALLEY, PENNSYLVANIA IN THE 1700s|author=Paul Marr}}</ref>
[[Image:Kitfry-1-.jpg|thumb|300px |1751 Fry-Jefferson map depicting 'The Great Waggon Road to Philadelphia']]

Benjamin Chambers, a [[Scotch-Irish American|Scots-Irish]] immigrant, is credited with settling "Falling Spring" in 1730. He built a [[grist mill]] and [[saw mill]] by a then-{{convert|26|ft|m|adj=mid|-high}} waterfall where Falling Spring Creek joined [[Conococheague Creek]].<ref name="NatReg">{{cite web|url=https://www.dot7.state.pa.us/ce_imagery/phmc_scans/H000885_01H.pdf|title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Chambersburg Historic District|date=July 31, 1980|author=John R. Schein Jr. and Ray C. Hearne|publisher=National Park Service|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120415130115/https://www.dot7.state.pa.us/ce_imagery/phmc_scans/H000885_01H.pdf|archive-date=April 15, 2012|df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref name="Britannica">{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Chambersburg |volume=5 |page=822}}</ref> The creek provided power for the mills, and soon a settlement grew and became known as "Falling Spring".

On March 30, 1734, Chambers received a "Blunston license" for {{convert|400|acre|ha}}, from a representative of the [[Penn family]]. 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 signed treaties with the British colonial government.<ref name="NatReg"/><ref>{{Harvnb|Bates|1887|pp=139–140}}</ref>

The Penn family encouraged settlement in the area in order to strengthen its case in a border dispute with the [[Maryland Colony]], which had resulted in hostilities known as [[Cresap's War]]. This dispute was not settled until 1767, with the border survey that resulted in the [[Mason-Dixon line]]. Chambers traveled to England to testify in support of Penn's claims.<ref>{{Harvnb|Garrard|1856|p=12}}</ref> To maintain peace with the Indians, Penn sometimes arranged for European settlers to be removed from nearby areas. In May 1750, Benjamin Chambers helped remove settlers from the nearby [[Burnt Cabins, Pennsylvania|Burnt Cabins]], named after an incident.<ref>{{Harvnb|Chambers|1856|pp=122–125}}</ref><ref name="BAFCP">{{cite book
  | title =Biographical Annals of Franklin County, Pennsylvania, Volume 1
  | publisher=Heritage Books  | year =2007  | url =https://books.google.com/books?id=adtXI0PJYj8C  
  | isbn =978-0-7884-3738-0  }}p. 3</ref>

The area was first classified as part of [[Chester County, Pennsylvania|Chester County]], then [[Lancaster County, Pennsylvania|Lancaster County]] (as that was created from Chester County's western area). Then Lancaster County was split, with its western portion renamed as [[Cumberland County, Pennsylvania|Cumberland County]]; finally another split (this time of Cumberland County) established Franklin County in 1784. ([[Adams County, Pennsylvania|Adams County]] adjoins it on the east).<ref>{{cite web | url=http://borough.chambersburg.pa.us/html/history.asp|title = History| publisher=borough.chambersburg.pa.us|  access-date = 2007-09-21 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070928152635/http://borough.chambersburg.pa.us/html/history.asp |archive-date = September 28, 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The [[Great Wagon Road]] connecting [[Philadelphia]] with the [[Shenandoah Valley]] (and an east-west branch through Hagerstown and [[Cumberland, Maryland]] to the [[Ohio Valley]] known as [[Nemacolin's Path]]) passed nearby. In 1744, the road was completed through [[Harrisburg, Pennsylvania|Harris's Ferry]], [[Carlisle, Pennsylvania|Carlisle]], [[Shippensburg, Pennsylvania|Shippensburg]], and Chambersburg to the [[Potomac River]].<ref name="NatReg"/> In 1748 a local militia was formed for protection against Indians, with Benjamin Chambers named as its colonel.

Chambersburg was still considered frontier during the [[French and Indian War]]. Benjamin Chambers built a private stone fort during the war, which was equipped with two 4-pounder cannons. Fighting and troop movements occurred nearby.<ref name="NatReg"/><ref name="Britannica"/><ref>{{Harvnb|Bates|1887|pp=159–175}} Chapter III, Indian War</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.explorepahistory.com/story.php?storyId=6|title = The French and Indian War in Pennsylvania | publisher=explorepahistory.com|  access-date = 2007-09-21 }}</ref> The area's population dropped from about 3,000 in 1755 as the war began, to about 300 during the conflict. Most settlers did not return until after 1764 (when the peace treaty was signed between Great Britain and France).<ref name="Kittochtinny"/>

Because Chambers's fort was otherwise lightly defended, officials attempted to remove the cannons to prevent them from being captured by Indians and used against other forts. However, the attempted removal failed. One of the cannons still remained in 1840, when it was fired to celebrate [[Independence Day (United States)|Independence Day]] that year.<ref>{{Harvnb|Garrard|1856|pp=22–31}}</ref>

The [[John Forbes (General)|Forbes Road]] and other trails going to [[Fort Pitt (Pennsylvania)|Fort Pitt]] passed nearby as well.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.clpgh.org/exhibit/neighborhoods/point/point_n715.html |title=The Point: Indian Trails to Fort Duquesne |publisher=Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh |access-date=2007-09-21 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071005184659/http://www.clpgh.org/exhibit/neighborhoods/point/point_n715.html |archive-date=October 5, 2007 |df=mdy }}</ref> The Forbes Road developed into part of the main road connecting Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, and much later into [[US 30]]. Chambersburg developed as a trading and transportation hub at the crossroads of Forbes Road and the Great Wagon Road.

Fighting continued in the area after the war. The [[Enoch Brown school massacre]] took place during [[Pontiac's War]], when Native Americans were trying to expel European Americans from the area. The  [[Black Boys]] rebelled against British troops stationed at [[Fort Loudoun (Pennsylvania)|Fort Loudon]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Bates|1887|pp=170–175}}</ref>

The town of Chambersburg was platted or laid out in 1764. Lots were advertised for sale on July 19 in [[Benjamin Franklin]]'s [[Pennsylvania Gazette (newspaper)|Pennsylvania Gazette]].

{{Blockquote|Notice is hereby given to the Public, that there is a town is laid out on Conegogig Creek, on both sides of the Great Falling Spring, where is falls into said creek, by Benjamin Chambers, of Cumberland County.  Lots may be had on reasonable terms and Firm Deeds granted for them by said Chambers: the day appointed for drawing of said lots is the 28th day of June inst.. which is a Thursday. The situation of this town is very good for water and stone, both free and marble, and sand all handy to the spot, and a well timbered part of the country adjoining it; within said town is a good Gristmill, Sawmill, and Grindstones going by water.  The articles of the Town shall be read on the day appointed for the drawing of the Lots, and the terms of the sale published by me|Benjamin Chambers<ref>{{Harvnb|Bates|1887|p=452}}</ref>}}

The first settlers were Scots-Irish Presbyterians; German Protestants came soon afterward. Relatively few [[Quaker]]s and English Protestants (who made up a large proportion of early Pennsylvania settlers generally) settled as far west as Chambersburg. However, blacks lived in Chambersburg almost from the settlement's beginning. Benjamin Chambers owned a black female slave sometime before the French and Indian War and twenty slaves were recorded as taxable property in 1786.<ref>{{Harvnb|Garrard|1856|p=13}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|M'Cauley|1878|pp=38}}</ref>

The earliest church was established by Scots-Irish [[Presbyterian]]s in 1734. Chambers gave the congregation land in 1768, for an annual rent of only a single rose. Later, the First Lutheran Church and [[Zion Reformed Church (Chambersburg, Pennsylvania)|Zion Reformed Church]] both organized in 1780 under similar terms, so these three churches came to be known as the "Rose Rent Churches".<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.zionucc-chambersburg.org/| title=Zion Reformed Church| publisher=Zion Reformed Church| access-date=2007-09-21| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070808203547/http://www.zionucc-chambersburg.org/| archive-date=August 8, 2007| url-status=dead| df=mdy-all}}</ref> A Catholic community organized in 1785. St. 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 and expanded through 1830.<ref>{{cite web|author1=Jeanne .B. Williams|title=The African Methodist Episcopal Church Moves into Central Pennsylvania|page=2|date=1996|url=https://www.lycoming.edu/umarch/chronicles/1997/3.%20WILLIAMS.pdf|website=Lycoming.edu}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6UM4AAAAQBAJ&pg=PA170|page=170|title=Prophets Of Protest: Reconsidering The History Of American Abolitionism|first1=Timothy Patrick|last1=McCarthy|first2=John|last2=Stauffer|date=March 13, 2012|publisher=New Press, The|isbn=9781595588548|access-date=March 30, 2019|via=Google Books}}</ref> The Mt. Moriah First African Baptist Church dates to 1887. The [[Old Jewish cemetery, Chambersburg|Jewish cemetery]] dates back to 1840.<ref name="NatReg"/>

=== 1775–1858 ===
[[File:Chambersburg PA Central Presby PHS117.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Central Presbyterian Church on the Diamond (town square) in an old postcard]]
In June 1775, soon after the [[Battle of Lexington]], local troops were raised to fight the British in the [[American Revolution]] under the command of Benjamin Chambers's eldest son Captain James Chambers, as part of the [[1st Pennsylvania Regiment]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Garrard|1856|pp=39–42}}</ref> These troops were among the first non-New Englanders to join the [[siege of Boston]], arriving on August 7, 1775.  James Chambers fought for seven years during the revolution, reaching the rank of Colonel of [[Continental Army]] troops on September 26, 1776.<ref>{{Harvnb|Garrard|1856|p=45}}</ref>  His two brothers, William and Benjamin Jr., each served for much of the war and reached the rank of captain.<ref>{{Harvnb|Bates|1887|pp=180,625}}</ref>  James Chambers commanded local troops at the [[Battle of Long Island]], and at [[Battle of White Plains|White Plains]], [[Battle of Trenton|Trenton]], [[Battle of Princeton|Princeton]], [[Battle of Brandywine|Brandywine]], [[Battle of Germantown|Germantown]], and [[Battle of Monmouth|Monmouth]]. He was part of the rear guard covering the retreat from [[Brooklyn]], and was wounded at the Battle of Brandywine while facing [[Hessian troops]] under [[Wilhelm von Knyphausen|General Knuphausen]] at [[Chadds Ford]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Garrard|1856|pp=48–49}}</ref>

During the [[Whiskey Rebellion]], local citizens raised a [[liberty pole]] in support of the rebels, and to protest [[conscription]] of soldiers to put down the rebellion.  Nevertheless, these citizens were censured in a [[town meeting]] and removed the pole the next day.<ref name="WhiskeyRebs">{{cite book
  | last =Baldwin  | first =Leland Dewitt   | title =Whiskey rebels: the story of a frontier uprising
  | publisher=University of Pittsburgh Press  | year =1968  | page =208
  | isbn =9780822951513 | url =https://books.google.com/books?id=QMF2AAAAMAAJ  }}</ref>  President [[George Washington]], while leading United States troops against the rebels, came through town on the way from [[Carlisle, Pennsylvania|Carlisle]] to [[Bedford, Pennsylvania|Bedford]], staying overnight on October 12, 1794. According to tradition, Washington lodged with Dr. Robert Johnson, a surgeon in the Pennsylvania line during the Revolution. This march was one of only two times that a sitting president personally commanded the military in the field. (The other was after President [[James Madison]] fled the [[Burning of Washington|British occupation of Washington, D.C.]], during the [[War of 1812]].) After sending the troops toward [[Pittsburgh]] from Bedford under General [[Henry Lee III|Henry "Light Horse Harry" Lee]], Washington returned through Chambersburg sometime between October 21 and 26.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://gwpapers.virginia.edu/documents/whiskey/october.html#12| title=The Papers of George Washington| publisher=University of Virginia| access-date=2009-07-15| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091115084853/http://gwpapers.virginia.edu/documents/whiskey/october.html#12| archive-date=November 15, 2009| url-status=dead| df=mdy-all}}</ref> James Chambers was appointed a Brigadier General of Militia during the Whiskey Rebellion.<ref>{{Harvnb|Bates|1887|pp=180}}</ref>

Chambersburg was incorporated on March 21, 1803,<ref name="PSA">{{cite web|url=http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/Bah/DAM/counties/browse.asp?catid=28 |title=Franklin County |publisher=Pennsylvania State Archives |access-date=August 4, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070802091245/http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/bah/dam/counties/browse.asp?catid=28 |archive-date=August 2, 2007 |df=mdy }}</ref> and declared the County Seat when the State Assembly established a formal government.  The first courthouse was John Jack's tavern on the Diamond (town square) in 1784, with a permanent courthouse built in 1793, and the first county jail built 1795.<ref name="Kittochtinny">{{cite web| url=http://www.rootsweb.com/%7Epakhs/| title=Franklin County, Pennsylvania USGENWEB Project| publisher=Kittochtinny Historical Society| access-date=2007-09-21| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080821012536/http://www.rootsweb.com/%7epakhs/| archive-date=August 21, 2008| url-status=dead| df=mdy-all}}</ref> The "Old Jail" was built in 1818, survived the fire of 1864 and is the oldest jail building in Pennsylvania. It was originally used as the sheriff's residence and had the longest continuous use of any jail in the state, operating until 1971. Today the Old Jail is a museum and home to the Franklin County – Kittochtinny Historical Society.<ref>{{cite web
 |url=http://www.chambersburg.biz/page.asp?id=4
 |title=Historical Sites
 |publisher=chambersburg.biz
 |access-date=2007-09-21
 |url-status=dead
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070822073704/http://www.chambersburg.biz/page.asp?id=4
 |archive-date=August 22, 2007
 |df=mdy
}}</ref> The county's gallows still stand in the jail's courtyard.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://pafch.tripod.com/pictures/index.album/gallows?i=1| title=Historic Pictures| publisher=Franklin County – Kittochtinny Historical Society| access-date=June 25, 2009| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090607232012/http://pafch.tripod.com/pictures/index.album/gallows?i=1| archive-date=June 7, 2009| df=mdy-all}}</ref> From 1786 to 1879 there were five executions in Franklin County totaling six 6 felons – five for murder and one for rape.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/historyoffrankli00bate/page/458/mode/2up History of Franklin County Pennsylvania .pp.458-459]</ref>

Much of the town's growth was due to its position as a transportation center, first as the starting point on the Forbes Road to Pittsburgh.  The [[U.S. Congress]] placed Chambersburg on the Philadelphia-Pittsburgh postal road in 1803.  The road was rebuilt as the Chambersburg-Bedford Turnpike in 1811.  The [[Cumberland Valley Railroad]] was built in 1837 and was the area's center of economic activity for nearly 100 years.  Until the completion of the [[Pennsylvania Railroad]]'s [[Main Line (Pennsylvania Railroad)|main line]] in 1857, the fastest route from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia was by stagecoach from Pittsburgh to Chambersburg, and then by train to Philadelphia.

=== Civil War era ===
[[Image:BurntCourtChambersburgPA1864.jpg|thumb|300px|left|Franklin County Courthouse following the 1864 McCausland raid.]]

==== Underground Railroad / John Brown ====

[[File:ChambersburgStatue.jpg|right|thumb|120px|Statue of a Union soldier on the main square.]]
By 1859, Chambersburg's active community of free and enslaved blacks and sympathetic whites had attracted a stop on the [[Underground Railroad]]. Several schools taught black children, although such activity was illegal in [[Virginia]] and other [[slave states]] further south. [[John Brown (abolitionist)|John Brown]] stayed in an upstairs room at Mary Ritner's boarding house between June and October, 1859 while preparing for his raid on [[Harpers Ferry]] (then in Virginia).<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.familytales.org/results.php?city=chambersburg| title=Collection of letters from Chambersburg, Familytales.org| access-date=2008-02-26| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070607120405/http://www.familytales.org/results.php?city=chambersburg| archive-date=June 7, 2007| df=mdy-all}}</ref> Several of his fellow raiders stayed in the house as well, and four of them escaped capture and briefly visited the house after the raid. The house still stands at 225 East King Street.  While in Chambersburg, Brown posed as Dr. Isaac Smith, an iron mine developer, and bought, shipped, and stored weapons under the guise of mining equipment.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/travel/underground/pa2.htm| title=John Brown House| publisher=nps.gov| access-date=2007-09-21| archive-date=April 6, 2007| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070406070408/http://www.cr.nps.gov/NR/travel/underground/pa2.htm| url-status=dead}}</ref>

Brown (using the name John Smith) and [[John Henry Kagi]] met with [[Frederick Douglass]] and [[Shields Green]] at an abandoned quarry outside of town to discuss the raid on August 19.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www3.iath.virginia.edu/jbrown/fdlife.html|title = Excerpt from The Life and Times of Frederick Douglass pp. 350–354|publisher=Reprint New York: Pathway Press|  year =1941 |  access-date = 2007-09-21 }}</ref>  According to Douglass's account, Brown described the planned raid in detail and Douglass advised him against it. Douglass also provided $10 from a supporter, and had helped Green – a future raider – locate Brown.

==== First two Confederate occupations, selective burnings ====
{{Main|Chambersburg Raid}}
During the [[American Civil War]] on October 10, 1862, [[Confederate States Army|Confederate]] [[Major General|Maj. Gen.]] [[J.E.B. Stuart]], with 1,800 cavalrymen, [[Chambersburg Raid|raided Chambersburg]], destroying $250,000 of railroad property and taking 500 guns, hundreds of horses, and enslaving "eight young colored men and boys."<ref>{{cite web | url=http://explorepahistory.com/displayimage.php?imgId=1-2-841|title =Map of Stuart's Raid|publisher=ExplorePaHistory.com|  access-date = October 12, 2012 }}</ref> They failed, however, to accomplish one of the main targets of the raid: to burn the railroad bridge across the Conococheague Creek at Scotland, five miles (8&nbsp;km) north of town.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://explorepahistory.com/hmarker.php?markerId=1-A-5A|title =Stuart's Raid|publisher=ExplorePaHistory.com|  access-date = October 12, 2012 }}</ref>

During the early days of the 1863 [[Gettysburg Campaign]], a [[Virginia]] cavalry [[brigade]] under [[Brigadier General|Brig. Gen.]] [[Albert G. Jenkins]] occupied the town and burned several warehouses and [[Cumberland Valley Railroad]] structures and the bridge at Scotland. From June 24–28, 1863, much of the [[Army of Northern Virginia]] passed through Chambersburg<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.civilwarhome.com/gettyscampaign.htm|title =The Gettysburg Campaign |publisher=civilwarhome.com|  access-date = 2007-09-21 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/topogeo/education/es5/es5.pdf| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000818232134/http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/topogeo/education/es5/es5.pdf| url-status=dead| archive-date=August 18, 2000|title =Geology and the Gettysburg Campaign|publisher=Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources|  year = 1962|  access-date = 2007-09-21 }}</ref> en route to [[Carlisle, Pennsylvania|Carlisle]] and [[Gettysburg, Pennsylvania|Gettysburg]], and General [[Robert E. Lee]] established his headquarters at a nearby farm.

==== July 30, 1864 devastation ====
[[File:View of the ruins of Chambersburg by Charles L. Lochman.jpg|thumb|800px|center|View of the ruins of Chambersburg, by Charles L. Lochman, 1864]]
The following year, Chambersburg was invaded for a third time, as cavalry, dispatched from the [[Shenandoah Valley]] by [[Jubal Early]], arrived.<ref name="Valley">{{cite web | url = http://valley.vcdh.virginia.edu/HIUS403/frhome/home.html| archive-url = https://archive.today/20070713121740/http://valley.vcdh.virginia.edu/HIUS403/frhome/home.html| url-status = dead| archive-date = 2007-07-13|title = War Comes Home, Chambersburg 1864|publisher=[[The Valley of the Shadow]]|  access-date = 2007-09-21 }}</ref> On July 30, 1864, a large portion of the town was burned down by Confederate [[History of Confederate States Army Generals#Brigadier general|Brig. Gen.]] [[John McCausland]] for failing to provide a ransom of $500,000 in U.S. currency, or $100,000 in gold. The local bank had sent its reserves out of town for safekeeping.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/documents_from_1776_-_1865/20424/chambersburg_war_damages/998581|title=Chambersburg War Damages|publisher=www.portal.state.pa.us|date=1866-03-19|access-date = 2015-05-05 |archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20150210140651/http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/documents_from_1776_-_1865/20424/chambersburg_war_damages/998581|archive-date = February 10, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://valley.vcdh.virginia.edu/memory/search/browseMemory.php?xml=/db/valley/memoryarticles/FM0066.xml| archive-url=https://archive.today/20070713164308/http://valley.vcdh.virginia.edu/memory/search/browseMemory.php?xml=/db/valley/memoryarticles/FM0066.xml| url-status=dead| archive-date=2007-07-13|title =Franklin County: "The Burning of Chambersburg,"|publisher=valley.vcdh.virginia.edu|  date =1870-08-27|  access-date = 2007-09-21 }}</ref><ref name="JeffersonDavis">
{{cite book
  | last       = Davis  | first      = Jefferson  | author-link = Jefferson Davis
  | title      = Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government (Volume II)
  | publisher = [[Da Capo Press]] | orig-year = 1881, published by D. Appleton and Company |year = 1990
  | location   = New York  | pages      = [https://archive.org/details/riseandfallconf03davigoog/page/n591 532]–533
  | url        = https://archive.org/details/riseandfallconf03davigoog
  | quote      = Chambersburg, Pennsylvania.  | isbn        =  0-306-80418-2}}</ref>
Among the few buildings left standing was the [[Masonic Temple (Chambersburg, Pennsylvania)|Masonic Temple]], which had been guarded under orders by a Confederate member of the Masons.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://explorepahistory.com/hmarker.php?markerId=1-A-202|title =Burning of Chambersburg|publisher=explorepahistory.com|  access-date = 2012-02-21 }}</ref>  ''Norland'', the home of Republican politician and editor [[Alexander McClure]], was burned although it was well north of the main fire. Early had ordered the ransom as compensation for those residents of the [[Shenandoah Valley]] whose homes has been burned by Union Brig.-Gen. [[David Hunter]]. He also burned the [[Virginia Military Institute]].<ref>[https://explorepahistory.com/hmarker.php?markerId=1-A-202 Burning of Chambersburg Historical Marker]</ref>
According to McCausland report the only death occurred when one of his soldiers was killed in the vicinity of the town after his troops left and no citizens lost their lives.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/historyoffrankli00bate/page/382/mode/2up History of Franklin County .p.383]</ref> One black Chambersburg resident was burned to death when Confederates set his house on fire and then refused to allow him to leave, trapping him in the flames. Another man was asked by the Confederates if he had ever educated "niggers"; after replying that he had, the Confederates burned his house down.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://deadconfederates.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/slavehunt.pdf |title=A Regular Slave Hunt |first=Ted |last=Alexander |access-date=April 29, 2015 |volume=4 |number=7 |work=North & South |date=September 2001 |page=88 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150429030950/https://deadconfederates.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/slavehunt.pdf |archive-date=April 29, 2015 }}</ref> Subsequently, "Remember Chambersburg" became a Union battle cry.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/1973/5/1973_5_36.shtml |title=Burning of Chambersburg |magazine=[[American Heritage (magazine)|American Heritage]] Magazine |date=August 1973 |author=Liva Baker |access-date=2007-09-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929102522/http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/1973/5/1973_5_36.shtml |archive-date=September 29, 2007 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref> The Property damage was $713,294.34 + Personal Property damage was $915,137,24 totaling $1,628,431.58 of which 50% was paid by State approbation, first by an Act of Legislature  Feb 15, 1866, $500,000.00 and the second under the Act of Legislation May 27, 1871; under the last named act claiments [numbering 650] each had a certificate for amount of his loss but claims payable only when said claims were paid by the  United States Government <ref>[https://archive.org/details/historyoffrankli00bate/page/390/mode/2up History of Franklin County Pennsylvania .p.390]</ref>
<gallery mode="packed" heights="165px">
File:John Brown portrait, 1859.jpg|John Brown in 1859
File:Alexander Kelly McClure (cropped).jpg|Alexander K. McClure
File:The photographic history of the Civil War - thousands of scenes photographed 1861-65, with text by many special authorities (1911) (14782791043).jpg|J.E.B. Stuart
File:JMcCausland.jpg|Gen. John McCausland
File:JubalEarly.jpeg| Lieut. Gen. Jubal Early, who ordered Chambersburg burned
</gallery>

=== Civil War Legacy ===

==== Accusations of war crimes ====

[[File:Jubal Early disguised as a farmer, 1865.jpg|thumb|right|Accused war criminal, General Early, disguised as a farmer, while escaping to Mexico, 1865.]]
Confederate Lieutenant General Jubal Early was accused of war crimes for ordering Chambersburg burned. The actual burning divided two of his cavalry commanders, because when Maryland-born Gen. Bradley Johnson saw the behavior of Gen. McCausland's troops in Chambersburg, he refused to participate in a similar burning at Cumberland and Hancock, Maryland not far to the south, so both those towns survived despite likewise not paying ransoms.<ref>Douglas Southall Freeman, Lee's Lieutenants (abridged 1-volume version edited by Stephen W. Sears) (Scribner 1998) p. 745</ref> Union cavalry under Brig. Gen. [[William W. Averell]], although initially misdirected toward Baltimore and thus late to arrive to prevent the atrocities, also pursued the Confederates, who sustained several defeats and lost most of the [[Shenandoah Valley]] by November. 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.  He proceeded to Mexico, and from there, sailed to [[Cuba]] and [[Canada]]. 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 published in 1867.

==== Chambersburg's Reconstruction ====

A combination of state and private funding rebuilt Chambersburg. However, many new buildings were erected quickly and not initially built to the original standards. It took more than 30 years to fully restore the town's housing stock to pre-Civil War standards. As discussed further below, Chambersburg was the site of one of the 69 schools established by Pennsylvania to educate children orphaned by the war, and which remained when all other such were closed decades later. Known as "[[The Scotland School for Veterans Children]]" after the 1890s, it remained open until 2010 and graduated more than 10,000 children during its lifetime.

==== Memorialization of Civil War ====
[[Image:Diamondviewfolder20a.gif|thumb|right|250px| "Fountain, Memorial Square, Chambersburg, Pa." 1921 post card.]]
Since people from Chambersburg had relatives on both sides during the war, and the war devastated the town, the town event also became a part of the town's identity. 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. A statue of a Union soldier stands next to the fountain, facing south to guard against the return of southern raiders.

To this day, the Civil War burning of Chambersburg remains a part of the town's historic identity and yearly memorial events are held, especially near July 30.

Chambersburg has also recently been the subject of study on how people have historically perceived and responded to war tragedies.{{citation needed|date=March 2018}}

=== National Register of Historic Places ===
The following places in Chambersburg are on the [[National Register of Historic Places]]:<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/pa/Franklin/state.html|title =National Register of Historic Places|publisher=NationalRegisterofHistoricPlaces.com|  access-date = 2007-09-21 }}</ref>
[[Image:Diamondviewfolder8.gif|thumb|right|250px| "Wilson's College for Girls Main Bldg. Chambersburg, Pa." 1921 post card.]]

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Site
! Address
! Listed
|- style="text-align:left;"
|| [[Brotherton Farm]]
|| SE of Chambersburg on Falling Spring Rd.
|| 1979
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| [[John Brown House (Chambersburg, Pennsylvania)|John Brown House]]
| style="text-align:left;"| 225 E. King St.
| style="text-align:left;"| 1970
|- style="text-align:left;"
|| [[Chambersburg Historic District]]
|| US 11 and US 30 ({{convert|2320|acres}}, 159 buildings)
|| 1982
|- style="text-align:left;"
|| [[Coldbrook Farm]]
||955 Spring Ln.
|| 1996
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| [[James Finley House (Chambersburg, Pennsylvania)|James Finley House]]
| style="text-align:left;"| Building No. 505, Letterkenny Army Depot
| style="text-align:left;"| 1974
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| [[Franklin County Courthouse (Pennsylvania)|Franklin County Courthouse]]
| style="text-align:left;"| 1 N. Main St., Memorial Square
| style="text-align:left;"| 1974
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| [[Franklin County Jail (Chambersburg, Pennsylvania)|Franklin County Jail]]
| style="text-align:left;"| NW corner of King and 2nd Sts.
| style="text-align:left;"| 1970
|- style="text-align:left;"
|| [[Gass House]]
|| E of Chambersburg off U.S. 30
|| 1977
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| [[Rocky Spring Presbyterian Church]]
| style="text-align:left;"| Rocky Spring Rd., approx. {{convert|.5|mi|m|abbr=on}} NW of Funk Rd.,
| style="text-align:left;"| 1994
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| [[Masonic Temple (Chambersburg, Pennsylvania)|Masonic Temple]]
| style="text-align:left;"| 74 S. 2nd St.
| style="text-align:left;"| 1976
|- style="text-align:left;"
|| [[Memorial Fountain and Statue]]
|| Memorial Square
|| 1978
|- style="text-align:left;"
|| [[Townhouse Row]]
|| 57–85 North Main Street
|| 1978
|- style="text-align:left;"
|| [[Wilson College (Pennsylvania)|Wilson College]]
|| 1015 Philadelphia Ave. ({{convert|550|acres}}, 17 buildings)
|| 1995
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| [[Zion Reformed Church (Chambersburg, Pennsylvania)|Zion Reformed Church]]
| style="text-align:left;"| S. Main and W. Liberty Sts.
| style="text-align:left;"| 1979
|}

=== Historic images ===
Colorized photographs taken from a series of 22 postcard views mailed in 1921.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://valley.vcdh.virginia.edu/memory/franklinmemory_p3c.html |title=The Valley of the Shadow: Memory of the War |website=valley.vcdh.virginia.edu |access-date=17 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070220045323/http://valley.vcdh.virginia.edu/memory/franklinmemory_p3c.html |archive-date=20 February 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
<gallery mode="packed">
Image:Diamondviewfolder11.gif | Birds eye view of the borough.
Image:Diamondviewfolder1.gif | City Hall
Image:Diamondviewfolder3.gif | King Street Bridge.
Image:Diamondviewfolder20.gif | View of the "Lincoln Way Arch" on the Diamond.
</gallery>