In order to process the hundreds of thousands of men who would pass through Harrisburg as Union Army soldiers between April 1861 and early January 1866, leaders of the federal government and state of Pennsylvania immediately established a new military training camp on the grounds of an agricultural school in what is, today, the Uptown area of Harrisburg. Named in honor of Pennsylvania's sitting governor at the time, Andrew Curtin, a close friend of Lincoln's who quickly mobilized the Pennsylvania Reserves in support of Lincoln's call for troops, the camp officially opened on April 18, 1861, and also included a supply depot, hospital and prisoner-of-war camp. Ultimately, more than 300,000 Union Army soldiers passed through Camp Curtin, making it the largest Federal military training camp during the Civil War. At war's end, Camp Curtin was then used as a key mustering-out point for many of those soldiers troops as they made their way back home. It officially closed on November 11, 1865.[3]
Before the decade was out, the grounds of the former military camp were again being "turned up by the plow," according to newspapers of the period.[4][5]
Placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2010, the Camp Curtin Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church was built in 1895.
In 1890, a new religious institution, the Camp Curtin Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church, was erected on part of the grounds of the former military training camp.[6] Built at the intersection of Camp, North Sixth, and Woodbine Streets "as a monument to 'old Camp Curtin'", its cornerstone was placed in May 1890. The church's ediface was then dedicated in July of that same year. Three years later, the building was expanded to accommodate the church's growing membership. Following a devastating fire the next year, a cornerstone for a new building was placed in 1895, followed by dedication ceremonies in September of that same year. By 1915, church members were raising the $38,000 necessary to create a significantly larger facility — one which would include a gymnasium, library, locker rooms, and shower baths which would be "open to all the young men and women of the community regardless of their religious affiliation" with the expectation that it would become "a 'social center' rivalling any in the State." The pastor of the church during this phase of its growth was the Rev. A. S. Williams.[7] Editors of the Harrisburg Telegraph wrote in April 1915 that the new church would "mark for all time the noted encampment, the location of which has been well nigh lost in the rapid growth of the town that has swept out over the open fields above Maclay street, where formerly was the tented military city, and has transformed them into populous, closely-built residence districts."[8]
Built circa 1910–1911, the Camp Curtin Fire Station building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1981.
Additional community services continued to be added to the neighborhood, including the Camp Curtin Fire Station, which was built circa 1910–1911.[9][10]
During the 1920s, leaders of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania further memorialized the importance of the former military camp by erecting a statue of Curtin in front of the Camp Curtin Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church.[11]
Facilities available to residents of the neighborhood during the 1970s included the: Camp Curtin Community Park, a 12-acre green space available to children and adults; the Camp Curtin Early Childhood Center at 2900 North Sixth Street; and the Camp Curtin indoor recreation center, which was equipped with a gym and auditorium.[12]
21st century neighborhood life
During the second decade of the 21st century, civic leaders in this area of Harrisburg formed the Camp Curtin Community Neighborhood United project to inspire residents and business owners to work collaboratively on community reinvestment and public safety initiatives. Meeting monthly in the boardroom of the Wesley Union African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church (Wesley Union AME Zion Church), the religious institution at Fifth and Camp streets which is pastored by the Rev. Willie Dixon (one of the civic leaders instrumental in founding the CCCNU), the organization had 40 members as of 2014. Three CCCNU working groups were then formed to focus on improving educational opportunities for residents and on fighting blight and crime in sections of the neighborhood running from Division to Maclay Streets and from Fourth to Seventh Streets while a fourth came together to create a neighborhood profile with data regarding residents' age and income levels, educational backgrounds and homeownership statistics to help neighborhood leaders collaborate more effectively with government officials to improve Camp Curtin's quality of life.[13][14][15] CCCNU's president in 2019 was Joyce V. Gamble, a retired nurse.
In 2013, Jean H. Cutler, the former director of the Bureau for Historic Preservation at the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission was given PHMC's Visionary in Historic Preservation Award for "helping Pennsylvania communities embrace strong preservation values" and demonstrating "extraordinary effort and innovation in educating and planning for the future of the Commonwealth’s cultural and historic resources." Among her projects, Cutler had been helping "the Camp Curtin Community Neighborhood United Project capitalize on the area’s railroad and Civil War history to promote civic pride and reinvestment."[16]
The Camp Curtin Academy, which is part of the Harrisburg School District, is located in the neighborhood at 2900 North 6th Street.[17][18] According to 2014 enrollment figures, the student body included 739 pupils from grades 5th through 8th with 87.8 percent receiving free lunches due to family poverty. Special education services were also provided to 28 percent of the student population.[19] Ninety-eight percent of the school's faculty were rated by the Pennsylvania Department of Education as being highly qualified (per federal No Child Left Behind Act standards). In 2010, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, the school enrolled 670 students from preschool through 8th grade in 2010, 575 of whom received federal free lunches. With a staff of 61 teachers, the student–teacher ratio that year was 11:1.[20]
As of 2019, according to the neighborhood's page on Nextdoor, the population of the Camp Curtin neighborhood was 6,204, 58 percent of whom were homeowners. The average age of residents was 49.[21]
Ebensburg is a borough and the county seat of Cambria County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It is located 25 miles (40 km) west of Altoona and surrounded by Cambria Township. It is situated in the Allegheny Mountains at about 2,140 feet (650 m) above sea level. Ebensburg is located in a rich bituminous coal region. In the past, sawmills, tanneries, wool mills, and a foundry operated there. The number of residents in 1900 was 1,574, and in 1910, 1,978. The population was 3,351 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Andrew Gregg Curtin was an American lawyer and politician. He served as the 15th governor of Pennsylvania during the American Civil War, helped defend his state during the Gettysburg Campaign, and oversaw the creation of the National Cemetery and the ceremony in which Abraham Lincoln delivered his famous Gettysburg Address.
Judiciary Square is a neighborhood in the northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C., the vast majority of which is occupied by various federal and municipal courthouses and office buildings. Judiciary Square is located roughly between Pennsylvania Avenue to the south, H Street to the north, 6th Street to the west, and 3rd Street to the east. The center of the neighborhood is an actual plaza named Judiciary Square. The Square itself is bounded by 4th Street to the east, 5th Street to the west, D Street and Indiana Avenue to the south, and F Street to the north. The neighborhood is served by the Judiciary Square station on the Red Line of the Washington Metro, in addition to Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority bus stops.
The Dundee–Happy Hollow Historic District is located west of Midtown Omaha, Nebraska. It covers the area between Harney Street on the south, Hamilton Street on the north, Happy Hollow Boulevard on the west, and 46th Street on the east. The "heart" of Dundee is located at 50th and Underwood Avenue in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. It was founded in 1880 and annexed into the city in 1915. Dundee is home to Warren Buffett and nationally syndicated editorial cartoonist Jeff Koterba and was the hometown of filmmaker Alexander Payne. Actor Henry Fonda additionally lived in the Dundee neighborhood.
The National Civil War Museum, located at One Lincoln Circle at Reservoir Park in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, is a private 501c(3) nonprofit promoting the preservation of material culture and sources of information that are directly relevant to the American Civil War and the postwar period as related to veterans' service organizations, including the Grand Army of the Republic and the United Confederate Veterans. The museum serves as the National Headquarters for the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War (SUVCW).
Camp Curtin was a major Union Army training camp in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, during the American Civil War. It was located north of Pennsylvania's state capitol building on 80 acres of what had previously been land used by the Dauphin County Agricultural Fairgrounds.
Uptown is a section of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania located North of the Midtown and Downtown neighborhoods.
During the American Civil War, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania played a critical role in the Union, providing a substantial supply of military personnel, equipment, and leadership to the Federal government. The state raised over 360,000 soldiers for the Federal armies. It served as a significant source of artillery guns, small arms, ammunition, armor for the new revolutionary style of ironclad types of gunboats for the rapidly expanding United States Navy, and food supplies. The Phoenixville Iron Company by itself produced well over 1,000 cannons, and the Frankford Arsenal was a major supply depot.
Frank Charles Bunnell was a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.
During the American Civil War, Pennsylvania was the second largest state in the Union, and Harrisburg was the state's capital. Located at the intersection of important railroads, Harrisburg proved an important supply and logistics center for the dissemination and transportation of materiel for the Union Army. Tens of thousands of new recruits were mustered into service or drilled at a series of Harrisburg-area United States Army training camps, including the sprawling Camp Curtin. Confederate forces under Lieutenant General Richard S. Ewell threatened Harrisburg during the June 1863 Gettysburg Campaign, but were instead called by General Robert E. Lee to return to Gettysburg campaign. Pennsylvania Governor Andrew Curtin ordered local workers to erect a series of forts and earthworks to protect the city, which then had a population of 13,000 residents.
The 1860 Pennsylvania gubernatorial was held on October 9, almost one month before Presidential election. Andrew Curtin of the newly formed Republican Party won the governor's mansion over Democrat Henry Donnel Foster.
Harrisburg's Market Square is located in Downtown Harrisburg at the intersection of 2nd and Market Streets. The square was created in 1785. Since then, it has traditionally been the navigational center of the city, and experienced a post-1980s revival, with the creation of several new commercial, residential and retail spaces.
This is a timeline of the major events in the history of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and vicinity.
The Camp Curtin Fire Station is a historic fire station located at Harrisburg, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania and named for the Civil War camp of the same name. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1981, and was decommissioned the year prior because it was no longer large enough to accommodate standard fire trucks.
Camp Curtin Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church, also known as Curtin Heights Church and Camp Curtin Memorial-Mitchell United Methodist Church, is a historic Methodist Episcopal church located in Harrisburg, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania.
The 1863 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election occurred on October 13, 1863. Incumbent governor Andrew Gregg Curtin, a Republican, was a candidate for re-election. Curtin defeated Democratic candidate George Washington Woodward to win another term.
The 4th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment, officially known as the 4th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, was an infantry regiment of the Union Army in the American Civil War. Formed mostly from a militia unit in Norristown in southeastern Pennsylvania, the regiment enlisted at the beginning of the American Civil War in April 1861 for a three-month period of service under the command of Colonel John F. Hartranft. Logistical difficulties bedeviled the regiment, which served as part of the garrison of Washington, D.C., until late June, when it was sent into Northern Virginia to join in the army of Brigadier General Irvin McDowell.
Veterans Park of Cambria County memorializes the approximately 5,500 soldiers from Cambria County, Pennsylvania who fought in the Revolutionary War, War of 1812, Mexican-American War, Civil War and Spanish-American War and is located in Ebensburg, Pennsylvania. The main feature of the park is a 63-foot tall grey granite monument, which consists of an obelisk and towards the base facing east is a bronze Civil War "armed sentinel" manufactured by the Gorham Co. Foundry. Around the monument are 22 plaques listing the 5,500 names of the soldiers. However, this list of soldiers is not to be considered completely accurate. There were Cambria County soldiers that were not listed on this memorial due to one or more reasons. These reasons include: the entire family may have moved out of Cambria County before the memorial was built, or, the soldier may have joined a unit that was formed in another county. A plaque just below the Armed Sentinel reads: "[e]rected to the memory of the soldiers and sailors from Cambria County, Pennsylvania who fought in defense of their country."
↑ "New Camp Curtin Memorial Church to Be Social Center: Gymnasium, Clubrooms, Etc., to Be Open to All Young Men and Women of West End Regardless of Affiliation; Big Campaign for $38,000 Starts Tomorrow; Patriotic Service in the Morning with Old Soldiers as Guests of Honor." Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Harrisburg Telegraph, April 17, 1915, p. 6.
↑ "Camp Curtin Memorial." Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Harrisburg Telegraph, April 21, 1915, p. 8.
↑ "General Plan for the City of Harrisburg: Harold A. Swenson, Mayor," p. 49. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: City of Harrisburg, June 1974.
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