by Wayne Fettro
As you walk into the small park space look up and to your right at a large mural on the side of a brick building.
This large color mural is a 2025 update to the original black-and-white mural commissioned in 2001 for the 250th anniversary of the founding of Carlisle. It depicts people, places and objects symbolic of borough and Cumberland County history.
Artist Wayne Fettro of Elizabethtown was hired by the Cumberland County Historical Society and the Downtown Carlisle Association to paint the mural onto the brick wall. He started the project in late May 2001 and finished a week or so later. Images used in the composite depict the Old County Courthouse, Molly Pitcher, Jim Thorpe, the LeTort Spring Run, the Two Mile House and the view from Flat Rock at Doubling Gap.
These images are arranged into a collage that also includes a trolley and a man wearing a mortar board. The trolley is symbolic of Cumberland County’s role as a transportation hub while the man represents a history of education. Carlisle Borough is home to Dickinson College, Dickinson School of Law, the U.S. Army War College at Carlisle Barracks and Pennsylvania’s first public high school.
Exit the courtyard through the gate onto High Street. Turn right and proceed to the corner. Directly across the street, on the side of a building you will see a brightly-colored mural.