00:00 - And.

00:34 - My name is Paul kelemen I'm one of the many community volunteers here in chambersburg

00:39 - Pennsylvania.

00:41 - Where on memorial square.

00:43 - And

00:44 - we are looking at the.

00:46 - Primary or centrepiece icon of the borough of chamber burge.

00:50 - R memorial fountain.

00:52 - The memorial found really had it's start.

00:55 - Following the civil war.

00:57 - Chambersburg.

00:59 - Was invaded three times and eighteen sixty two eighteen sixty three and eighteen

01:04 - sixty four

01:05 - culminating.

01:06 - In the great fire or the burning of che chambersburg.

01:10 - We know that from eighteen seventy eight.

01:14 - The women of chambersburg over a series of years raise the money.

01:18 - Got the support.

01:20 - To purchase a fountain.

01:22 - They didn't want a military.

01:24 - Fountain in appearance.

01:26 - They wanted one that represented the rise from the ashes.

01:30 - They wanted one that was beautiful.

01:32 - That future generations could admire

01:35 - and an eighteen seventy eight

01:36 - they purchased the file that you see before you.

01:40 - This fountain was.

01:42 - Designed and intended

01:44 - to honor.

01:46 - The.

01:47 - Soldiers who fought during the civil war and died during the civil war.

01:51 - Of course which was eighteen sixty one to eighteen sixty five.

01:56 - On the side of the fountain you see a soldier.

01:59 - That soldier is there to symbolically.

02:02 - Protect this town from southern invasion

02:05 - going forward.

02:07 - And eighteen ninety three.

02:09 - The town placed a large granite stone in front of central presbyterian church.

02:14 - And that was to.

02:15 - Bring attention to the fact that chambersburg was the largest northern town

02:20 - that was burned during the civil war.

02:23 - With the burning of chambersburg

02:25 - it dramatically changed the law landscape of this community.

02:29 - And

02:30 - we see on that stone.

02:32 - That the economic devastation of chambersburg.

02:36 - Resulted in.

02:38 - Of course the fire that started at eight

02:42 - o'clock in the morning and was done by eleven.

02:44 - Covered it an eleven block

02:45 - area.

02:46 - Two thousand people lost their homes five hundred and thirty seven.

02:50 - Buildings were destroyed.

02:52 - And when you consider

02:54 - not only the real estate but the personal property that was lost

02:58 - it was well over a million dollars in value.

03:01 - Another aspect of architecture in this community

03:05 - are the crossroads.

03:06 - Memorial fountain sits on the

03:08 - the

03:09 - junction of u s route eleven

03:11 - which runs from northern new York to.

03:14 - New Orleans Louisiana

03:16 - and east and west

03:17 - from.

03:18 - Hk coast or west coast.

03:21 - And.

03:22 - At that time in nineteen eighteen.

03:24 - Chambersburg was considered the crossroads of america.

03:28 - And it was also referred to as the queen city.

03:32 - There is also.

03:34 - Reference to route thirty which runs east and west.

03:37 - As the Lincoln highway.

03:39 - The Lincoln highway runs from new York city to San Francisco.

03:43 - And in

03:44 - Pennsylvania.

03:45 - From Adams county

03:47 - to westmoreland county a six county area.

03:50 - Is referred to as the Lincoln highway heritage corridor.

03:54 - One one of the many.

03:56 - Heritage corridors in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

03:59 - Central presbyterian church.

04:02 - Has a gothic style architecture.

04:04 - And it was constructed and eighteen sixty eight.

04:07 - But in nineteen thirty nine they had a tragic fire and the church had to be

04:11 - reconstructed.

04:13 - One of the interesting things about that church.

04:16 - As is so much the case in churches

04:18 - throughout the town

04:20 - as it has a one hundred and eighty six.

04:22 - Foot tall steeple.

04:24 - Now when you look at churches in chambersburg you're going to see.

04:28 - Tall steeples and pointy spires and pupil as.

04:33 - That.

04:34 - And other government buildings have similar.

04:37 - Tupelo styles.

04:39 - One of the main features of

04:41 - most churches and certainly

04:43 - is the case with central presbyterian church.

04:46 - Is the

04:47 - stained glass windows now the stained glass

04:50 - construction is a little different than.

04:52 - Traditional saying glass windows.

04:55 - It is called frackville fr a v I l e.

05:00 - And the coloration is actually manufactured into the glass.

05:05 - You're looking at.

05:06 - A set of building seven buildings.

05:09 - Referred to as townhouse row

05:11 - and those seven buildings were placed on the national register of historic places

05:16 - and they were rebuilt after the great fire

05:19 - and what you see there.

05:21 - The architectural style of those buildings

05:23 - is three story.

05:25 - Bracketed commercial.

05:27 - And residential.

05:29 - Structure.

05:30 - And.

05:31 - What's common about those buildings is the roofline.

05:34 - You have a continuous roofline

05:36 - and the cornice.

05:38 - That's just below the roofline.

05:40 - Is

05:41 - designed in such a way that a represents the construction.

05:45 - By differ contractors

05:46 - and you see elements.

05:48 - Of lintels and sills

05:51 - and

05:51 - recessed doorways that are

05:53 - very common to that particular style of architecture.

05:56 - And what is also common

05:58 - about those buildings and other buildings along main street.

06:02 - Is the painted brick

06:03 - that was purposely done.

06:05 - With colors that were popular at the time so

06:09 - each building would have a different color.

06:10 - As well as the different.

06:12 - Features.

06:13 - On the windows and doorways.

06:16 - The waterwheel

06:18 - is not historic

06:19 - but it does represent the type of

06:21 - waterwheel that was.

06:23 - Very common in this area starting with

06:26 - chambers

06:27 - and.

06:29 - Development of his homestead

06:31 - and the use of the waterwheel for.

06:33 - Gristmill and sawmill to help

06:36 - the development of the town to create lumber to create the food necessary.

06:40 - And in the post.

06:42 - Civil war era

06:44 - we see many.

06:46 - Meals and water wheels developing along both the following spring creek.

06:51 - And the konica Jade creek.

06:53 - We are standing actually at the confluence of the two streams.

06:57 - The following spring creek is a five mile

07:00 - limestone bay stream.

07:03 - That stays fifty degrees year round and is considered the best

07:06 - trout fishing stream in Pennsylvania.

07:09 - This is the founding family memorial statue

07:12 - and it represents the homecoming.

07:15 - To explain that

07:16 - this day that

07:17 - is the founder of the town Benjamin chambers.

07:20 - This is his son.

07:22 - Colonel James chambers

07:24 - and this is

07:24 - James his son Benjamin the grandson

07:27 - of the founder.

07:29 - Now.

07:30 - When George Washington put out a call for militia units to come help his.

07:36 - Colonial

07:37 - forces.

07:38 - This young man was eleven years old.

07:41 - And so he picked up arms and with his father.

07:44 - They joined a Thompson's rifle battalion in Carlisle

07:48 - and then marched the four hundred and fifty miles to Boston.

07:52 - And they served alongside Washington during the siege of Boston

07:56 - and all of the campaigns north to.

07:58 - Canada and back.

08:00 - And so

08:01 - they at that point.

08:03 - By seventeen eighty one.

08:05 - They have fought in six of the eight years of the revolutionary war

08:09 - and now they have returned so they're

08:11 - the homecoming.

08:12 - Brings them back to.

08:14 - Young Benjamin who is now seventeen ten years old

08:17 - to his mother and grandmother

08:19 - and the grandfather.

08:24 - We are standing next to the Franklin county

08:26 - judicial center

08:28 - which actually was finished in two thousand and twenty one.

08:31 - And it represents a contemporary style modern architecture.

08:36 - But it also represents the fact that like any community.

08:40 - The growth of rich tradition your capability.

08:43 - Increases with the growth of the community.

08:47 - Is.

08:54 - Behind me is the historic.

08:57 - Franklin county courthouse.

08:59 - The land on which this courthouse

09:01 - sits

09:02 - was.

09:03 - Gifted by Benjamin chambers.

09:06 - In those early days days

09:07 - and this is the third version

09:09 - of the courthouse.

09:11 - First one was built and seventeen ninety two.

09:14 - And then as the need

09:15 - occurred for it to be enlarged.

09:19 - For more capacity it was rebuilt

09:21 - and.

09:22 - Eighteen forty two.

09:24 - Now.

09:26 - The great fire I have eighteen sixty four of course level this building.

09:31 - And it was reconstructed and eighteen sixty five

09:34 - as you see it here.

09:35 - One of the interesting things.

09:38 - Of this courthouse.

09:40 - Are the six columns in front.

09:42 - Originally before the fire.

09:44 - The building had

09:45 - the

09:46 - white columns facing.

09:48 - The main road Lincoln way.

09:51 - But after the burning they reconstructed it and the six columns.

09:55 - Faced in a westerly direction.

09:58 - One of the interesting.

10:00 - Points about those columns is at the top.

10:03 - The materials on what we call the capitals

10:06 - the top of those columns.

10:08 - Was made out of terracotta.

10:10 - Terracotta

10:12 - was only available for contractors

10:14 - from about the.

10:16 - Mid.

10:17 - Eighteen forties.

10:19 - To the end of the civil war.

10:20 - So right now there's a lot of architectural interests.

10:24 - And architects coming from different parts of the country

10:28 - to look at these columns and look at that terracotta.

10:31 - As a very interesting architectural style.

10:35 - One of the other interesting features about this courthouse if you look at the top.

10:39 - On the on the coupla of the courthouse.

10:42 - You're going to see a statue.

10:44 - That's a statue of

10:46 - Benjamin

10:47 - Franklin

10:48 - and this of course went from cumberland county to Franklin county.

10:52 - That statue is nine feet tall.

10:54 - And he's carrying a lightning rod.

10:56 - The one that's up there.

10:59 - Was burn during the civil war and eighteen sixty five.

11:02 - And when it was rebuilt.

11:04 - The second version of it

11:06 - was out of wood.

11:08 - And it gradually deteriorated.

11:11 - And.

11:12 - So

11:13 - a group of local local craftsman.

11:16 - They took it down and

11:18 - for several years they worked on restoring it.

11:21 - And the restored version of that statue.

11:24 - Of Benjamin Franklin resides in the chambersburg heritage center across the street

11:29 - the one that's on top of the building now.

11:31 - Is made out of synthetic materials.

11:34 - That.

11:35 - Will be able to see stand the test of time and the elements.

11:38 - That.

11:39 - Place havoc on the earlier version.

11:42 - This is the chambersburg heritage center.

11:46 - Is architectural style is American modernism.

11:50 - Of the gilded age.

11:52 - This building was built in nineteen fifteen.

11:55 - As the valley national bank and you can still see the outline of the letters on the

11:59 - corner of the building.

12:01 - It was

12:01 - designed

12:03 - and constructed by

12:04 - frank furnace from Philadelphia.

12:07 - He was a famed architect.

12:09 - Who was a very controversial.

12:12 - In the styles of buildings that he built in various cities.

12:16 - And he was criticized heavily.

12:18 - In the early years especially after he pass on.

12:21 - Because the style of the build things that he built and designed.

12:25 - Were.

12:26 - Different from the architecture of the.

12:29 - Adjacent buildings

12:31 - but this building has had

12:33 - a great use.

12:35 - From a bank it was used temporarily and really was out of.

12:39 - Service for a number of years.

12:41 - Until it was purchased by the chambersburg area development corporation and nineteen

12:45 - ninety nine.

12:47 - And gradually restored.

12:50 - Historic preservation at his best actually.

12:54 - And the chamber of commerce was able to.

12:57 - Locate the

12:59 - heritage center.

13:01 - Into that building in two thousand and four.

13:04 - And they did it in that way.

13:06 - It's actually connected to the newer building beside it

13:10 - the David geesh Mona.

13:11 - Office building.

13:13 - So that the chamber of commerce

13:15 - could manage it.

13:17 - Without having to build a separate staff.

13:19 - In it

13:20 - and so today it's a heritage center that really talks about.

13:24 - The history

13:25 - and.

13:27 - Four major thematic areas.

13:30 - So it talks about the early frontier history.

13:33 - The architectural history.

13:35 - Common throughout Franklin county.

13:37 - Also.

13:39 - The civil war

13:40 - invasions and the underground railroad

13:43 - and then finally the transportation elements dealing with the stagecoaches in.

13:47 - The early roads.

13:49 - The railroad

13:50 - and of course the Lincoln highway

13:52 - heritage corridor.

13:54 - After the July thirtieth eighteen sixty four burning of chambersburg.

14:00 - The town rapidly began reconstruction and eighteen sixty five.

14:04 - And looking down south main street the architectural style

14:08 - is considered late victorian

14:10 - and the roof lines the continuous roof lines

14:13 - and the cornices.

14:15 - Have an Italian.

14:17 - Decorative feature

14:18 - and they're bracketed with panels in between.

14:22 - And

14:23 - the notable

14:24 - architectural style is carpenter's art.

14:27 - Carpenter's art.

14:28 - Showed that

14:29 - the.

14:30 - Public.

14:31 - Which carpet are actually constructed

14:33 - each individual building and.

14:35 - Because they put their own style.

14:38 - On the

14:39 - principally those were features.

14:41 - Over the windows called the lintels

14:43 - and the window sills underneath.

14:46 - When you look at the roofline and the corners you see brackets

14:50 - and you see panels in between those Italian.

14:53 - Style brackets.

14:55 - Now the buildings were brick but they were all purposely paid painted.

14:59 - In each building was typically painted a different color.

15:02 - Just like north main street

15:04 - continuing down south main street.

15:06 - You had that.

15:08 - Attractive.

15:09 - Colorization.

15:10 - Of the buildings.

15:12 - Were looking at the Franklin county visitors center.

15:15 - This is a Greek revival style building.

15:18 - And and it was burned during the civil war and reconstructed.

15:22 - Change along the way after the burning

15:25 - to a neoclassical style

15:27 - and then.

15:28 - Changed again

15:29 - which is kind of unusual.

15:32 - For postponing construction

15:34 - to this.

15:35 - Greek revival style.

15:37 - The visitor center was was repurposed in two thousand and eighteen.

15:43 - As a central place like the heritage center.

15:46 - Where

15:47 - visitors could come and better understand not only.

15:50 - The community or the county.

15:53 - The broader county

15:54 - but also a number of cultural events.

15:57 - Are held within that building.

15:59 - So the floors are marble all of the wood features are still retained

16:04 - and the entire building was restored.

16:07 - In a store preservation fashion.

16:09 - So it really.

16:10 - Has been.

16:12 - Has become one of our architectural treasures in the community.

16:16 - We're on south main street.

16:19 - In downtown chambersburg.

16:21 - And you recall

16:22 - the burning of chambersburg on July thirtieth eighteen sixty four.

16:26 - Most all of the buildings on.

16:29 - North and south main street or burn

16:31 - with the exception.

16:32 - Of the three buildings behind me.

16:34 - As you look at the yellow bills adding.

16:37 - That has a colonial

16:38 - architectural style.

16:40 - That's the original look of that building before.

16:43 - The burning of chambersburg.

16:45 - The next two buildings behind me.

16:47 - Including the the

16:49 - red brick.

16:50 - Castle looking building.

16:52 - Those were not burned

16:53 - but what they did is they added to the facade

16:57 - and the rest of the building.

16:59 - By increasing the front to three stories

17:02 - and the entire building.

17:04 - To follow.

17:05 - So there are exceptions to the burning.

17:09 - And as we said before.

17:11 - That burning took place on the morning of July thirtieth eighteen sixty four

17:16 - and it covered

17:16 - eleven square blocks.

17:21 - We're looking at the historic capitol theatre.

17:24 - It was constructed and opened it's doors on February third nineteen twenty seven.

17:29 - Architectural style.

17:31 - Art deco.

17:32 - In.

17:33 - More recent times by two thousand and three.

17:37 - The cultural art center was developed.

17:39 - As an extension of the capitol theatre further to the south

17:43 - so the three buildings adjacent to the capitol theatre.

17:46 - Or part of that whole

17:48 - cultural art center complex.

17:50 - And.

17:52 - We tried to match.

17:53 - The buildings the newer buildings with the buildings that were there at war one time

17:58 - there were badly deteriorated.

18:00 - So on the outside it looks like.

18:02 - The continuous street wall.

18:04 - That is common in

18:06 - main street

18:07 - but inside

18:08 - what you find is that the.

18:11 - Nineteen twenty seven

18:13 - art deco style.

18:14 - Is carried from the.

18:16 - A whole pie part of the theatre.

18:19 - Into the new part of the theory so it all flows very well.

18:22 - One of the main features of the

18:24 - capitol theatre center.

18:26 - And the capitol theatre

18:28 - from nineteen twenty seven.

18:30 - Is of course the inside deck decor.

18:34 - Part of that art deco decor

18:36 - and as a molar theatre pipe organ.

18:40 - That

18:41 - has been in use

18:42 - since the theater was open

18:44 - and this theater.

18:45 - Of course.

18:47 - Did the silent movies to talkies.

18:50 - Came along.

18:51 - And of course now as a performing arts.

18:55 - Type facility with a lot of functions.

18:57 - For cultural arts.

19:00 - And theater metrical.

19:01 - Performances.

19:03 - Throughout the course of the year so it's been in continuous.

19:06 - Use.

19:08 - Since it opened in nineteen twenty seven.

19:13 - This is the sousa rod house owned by dr Seuss dorado was built in eighteen one seven.

19:18 - And has a flemish bond.

19:21 - Architectural style.

19:23 - And you'll see the buildings just to the south of it that are connected.

19:27 - And that's what we call a continuous bond.

19:30 - Architectural style style

19:32 - and that actually now is all part of that same building

19:35 - because it's an apartment complex today

19:38 - there is some retail on the first floor.

19:40 - And it still has that.

19:43 - Italian.

19:44 - Style and on the cornices.

19:47 - Has the.

19:48 - Carpenters are.

19:50 - On the face of the build things.

19:52 - But this is where the fire.

19:55 - Line actually stopped.

19:57 - And

19:58 - as the story goes the women in that building came out

20:01 - convinced the confederate soldiers not to burn the building

20:04 - and they didn't.

20:06 - And behind me is the borough of chambersburg.

20:13 - Office building.

20:14 - The borough is charter nineteen o three.

20:18 - And eighteen thirty one this building was used as a market house.

20:22 - So it had wooden awnings that.

20:24 - Came out of two sides that.

20:26 - Insides.

20:28 - And this is where people gather their.

20:30 - Market produce and other products that they would need

20:34 - and it stayed that way right up.

20:36 - Past the nineteen twenty one

20:38 - and this has a

20:40 - Greek revival architectural style.

20:43 - And.

20:44 - The

20:45 - the borough ak actually began to utilize this facility.

20:49 - For it's offices.

20:51 - In about nineteen

20:53 - thirty

20:54 - and finished occupying a building in nineteen forty five.

20:58 - Featured on the top of the borough building.

21:01 - Is the cupa and there are clock faces on four sides of their coupla.

21:05 - And they were installed in eighty in thirty two

21:08 - and most recently they were.

21:10 - Refreshed and refurbished.

21:13 - So that

21:13 - are once again.

21:15 - Not only the clock but the Cuba itself

21:18 - and it's copper top.

21:20 - Are now once again exposed to the public.

21:24 - This building is called the Rose rent lofts

21:27 - but back in sixteen.

21:29 - Ninety seven.

21:30 - The building on land gifted by Benjamin chambers.

21:34 - Was constructed into the chambersburg academy.

21:37 - And then some years later.

21:39 - It was

21:40 - converted to central high school.

21:43 - And

21:43 - additions to the building

21:45 - and a new building out on queen street were added.

21:48 - For the increased capacity and that was.

21:51 - Called the central highschool.

21:52 - Well when the new central high school was constructed.

21:55 - This changed the name to the

21:57 - central junior high school.

22:00 - But today it is the roads around love so what.

22:03 - What the devel yup or did.

22:04 - Is they totally restored the entire building.

22:08 - This part is is.

22:10 - High end apartments.

22:12 - The middle was taken out.

22:14 - And then the queen street part.

22:16 - Has been repurposed because it has an auditorium

22:19 - and a gymnasium and it has office space so it's used for.

22:23 - Ajay occasional purposes as well as.

22:27 - Some business purposes

22:28 - one of the interesting things about

22:30 - the Rose rent lofts.

22:33 - And nothing to do with the roads around churches

22:36 - but land that was gifted by Benjamin chambers.

22:39 - Is when they went in there to do the restoration.

22:42 - They found.

22:43 - As they started taken out of temporary walls.

22:46 - They found

22:47 - the chalkboards from.

22:49 - Central junior high school.

22:51 - That still have the chalk writing on it by the teachers and the students.

22:55 - They preserve that

22:57 - and they built that

22:58 - into the actual architecture.

23:01 - Of the apartments now within this building.

23:03 - Prayer cool

23:05 - and it's just another way to.

23:08 - To pay respect and honor to.

23:11 - The history that went before.

23:15 - This is the historic John brown house.

23:17 - Actually was Mary written or his boarding house.

23:21 - John brown.

23:22 - Was very enamored with chambersburg and this location

23:26 - and he temporarily stayed here.

23:28 - To prepare for his unsuccessful raid on Harper's ferry.

23:32 - The railroad was right behind him

23:34 - so he was bringing in.

23:36 - Finite.

23:37 - Arms and ammunition and supplies.

23:41 - Through the railroad.

23:43 - To help him get ready for that.

23:45 - Fateful.

23:46 - Attempt

23:47 - to overtake Harpers ferry.

23:49 - The one of the written or family members would hide.

23:52 - Freedom seekers

23:53 - in the rail cars.

23:55 - So this was rarely part of the underground railroad as well.

24:00 - We're looking at the Franklin county old

24:03 - jail.

24:05 - This is the finest architecture

24:07 - Georgian style

24:09 - from williamsburg north to here.

24:12 - This trail was

24:14 - constructed and eighteen eighteen

24:16 - the parts you're looking at.

24:18 - A little bit further around the corner

24:20 - is the eighteen eighty portion of the jail.

24:23 - The top floor of which was used.

24:26 - For women prisoners.

24:29 - It has a large.

24:31 - Wall the exercise you're hard.

24:34 - That actually has a gallows in it.

24:36 - This jail was used from eighteen eighteen.

24:39 - To nineteen seventy one.

24:42 - And so as a

24:43 - long continuous.

24:45 - Usage of a jail.

24:47 - Local lore has it that freedom seekers.

24:50 - Would come here and be hidden in the basement of the old jail

24:53 - but that's never been substantiated.

24:56 - If.

25:02 - This is the library building

25:04 - the coil library.

25:06 - And it.

25:06 - Neoclassical and architectural style.

25:10 - It

25:10 - was built in eighteen ninety one as the US post office.

25:14 - And in later years was converted repurpose to be the choral library.

25:18 - In recent times in two thousand and seventeen.

25:21 - It was totally renovated

25:24 - with a new addition.

25:26 - To be an expanded library

25:28 - and so it has three levels of library services have double the size of the library.

25:33 - And

25:34 - it preserved all of the original marble and wood features is inside.

25:38 - And on the top floor.

25:40 - It has a.

25:42 - Live

25:43 - garden.

25:45 - Outside.

25:46 - And so.

25:48 - Environmentally.

25:50 - A lot of plants are grown up there and you can sit out there

25:53 - and enjoy a great view down.

25:56 - Down main street.

26:03 - Thank you very much for visiting downtown chambersburg

26:07 - and the greater

26:08 - borough of chambersburg area.

26:11 - And we appreciate your listening to the story.

26:14 - That emanated out of.

26:16 - The historic founding of this town

26:18 - the great fire

26:20 - that decimated the town

26:22 - but was quickly reborn.

26:24 - If you have any interests we hope that you'll come back to town.

26:28 - Sometime.

26:29 - You can get a hold of the Franklin county visitor center.

26:33 - Online.

26:35 - And you can see a lot of programs that are available

26:37 - the chambersburg heritage center is also available.

26:41 - To help you understand the town.

26:44 - And other parts of the Franklin county so thank you again.

26:48 - We enjoyed spending time with you.

26:50 - It.