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Preserving our Local History
Graffiti, Lithographs Point To A Proud Church History The year was 1830, and the “Sabbath School” had been newly formed at the town’s German Reformed Church. Years later, in 1837, Thaddeus Stevens had just opened his blast furnace along the Conocheague Creek in the village of Caledonia, east of Chambersburg. That same year, as townspeople stabled their wagons and horses behind their nearby homes on South Main Street, someone took a moment to pen their name and the date in the bell-tower entry at Zion. The younger members of Zion have done the same many times, since in writings legible from 1855, 1866 and the present day. Zion’s bell tower has long stood watch over the town. After a steep climb up the staircase rising through the hand-hewn timbers, residents watched during the Civil War for the first sight of Rebel invasion. It has always offered a unique and breath-taking panoramic view of downtown Chambersburg.
Take a walk through the Burial Grounds at Zion and you will find a cemetery full of the history and character of the town. Names such as Stouffer, Nitterhouse, Lutz, and several other epitaphs in the native German language of Zion’s founders.
Many tombstones hearken back to early 1800, with several prominent townspeople interred here as their “final resting place,” including graves of veterans who served as early as the Revolutionary War. In the spring and fall months, this walkway to the church blossoms with the colors of the seasons. Although its use as a cemetery has declined over the years, this plot of ‘sacred ground’ allows Zion to remain connected to its historic past. We also view it as our commitment to maintain and preserve its heritage, for the generations of those who peacefully rest here.
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