Cumberland

Cumberland, county, south-central Pennsylvania, U.S. It consists of a hilly region in the Appalachian Ridge and Valley physiographic province bounded to the north by Blue Mountain, to the east by the Susquehanna River, to the southeast by Yellow Breeches Creek, and to the south by the Blue Ridge Mountains. Conodoguinet Creek and the Appalachian National Scenic Trail cross the county. Parklands include Michaux State Forest and Colonel Denning, Kings Gap, and Pine Grove Furnace state parks.

Shippensburg (founded 1730), one of the first white settlements in Pennsylvania west of the Susquehanna River, was replaced by Carlisle as the county seat in 1751. Carlisle, the home of Dickinson College (1773), was the eastern terminus of the Pennsylvania Turnpike (1940), one of the first limited-access express highways in the United States; it connected Harrisburg and Pittsburgh. The county was created in 1750 and named for William Augustus, duke of Cumberland. Famous residents of Carlisle include Molly Pitcher, heroine of the Battle of Monmouth Court House (1778) during the U.S. War of Independence, and Jim Thorpe, Olympic athlete and professional gridiron-football player who was trained by Glenn Scobey (“Pop”) Warner at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School.

Cumberland county contains many suburbs of nearby Harrisburg such as Mechanicsburg, Camp Hill, New Cumberland, and Lemoyne. The primary economic activities are services, retail trade, manufacturing (electronic components and textiles), and agriculture (field crops, livestock, and dairy products). Area 550 square miles (1,425 square km). Pop. (2000) 213,674; (2010) 235,406.