Shippensburg, Pennsylvania | |
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Borough | |
Old Main at Shippensburg University
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Coordinates: 40°02′58″N 77°31′26″W / 40.04944°N 77.52389°WCoordinates: 40°02′58″N 77°31′26″W / 40.04944°N 77.52389°W | |
Country | United States |
State | Pennsylvania |
Counties | Cumberland and Franklin |
Settled | 1730 |
Incorporated | 1819 |
Government | |
• Type | Borough Council |
• Mayor | Bruce Hockersmith |
Area | |
• Total | 1.99 sq mi (5.16 km2) |
• Land | 1.99 sq mi (5.15 km2) |
• Water | 0.004 sq mi (0.01 km2) |
Elevation | 686 ft (209 m) |
Population (2010) | |
• Total | 5,492 |
• Density | 2,759/sq mi (1,065.4/km2) |
Time zone | Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) |
• Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
ZIP code | 17257 |
Area code(s) | 717 |
Website | www |
Designated | June 01, 1948 |
Shippensburg is a borough in Cumberland and Franklin counties in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Settled in 1730, Shippensburg lies in the Cumberland Valley, 41 miles (66 km) southwest of Harrisburg, and is part of the Harrisburg–Carlisle Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 5,492 at the 2010 census. Of this, 4,416 were in Cumberland County, and 1,076 were in Franklin County.
Shippensburg was incorporated as a borough on January 21, 1819. In the past, there were furniture factories, engine and pump works, and other industrial works located within the town. Shippensburg is the home of the Beistle Company, the oldest and largest manufacturer of decorations and party goods, which sells its distinctive honeycomb paper decorations worldwide. It is also the location of Pague and Fegan, the oldest continuously operated hardware store in Pennsylvania. In May 2012, Volvo Construction Equipment began a $100 million expansion project to bring its American headquarters to Shippensburg.
Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania, one of 14 universities of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, is located just north of the borough limits in Shippensburg Township.
Shippensburg is the oldest community of the Cumberland Valley, and the second oldest west of the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania (after York to the east). In July 1730, 12 Scots-Irish families came to the site of the present-day Shippensburg and built cabin homes along Burd's Run. Shippensburg began as the western outpost of colonial settlement.