Celebrating Carmichaels
Carmichaels Town Center
The Carmichaels covered bridge
An undated photograph of Carmichaels.
The Greene Academy of Art was built in 1790, with an addition constructed in 1810, on North Market Street. It was listed on the National Register of Historical Places in 1976.
Carmichaels will be celebrating a big birthday this week with a big party.
Beginning Thursday and continuing through Sunday, the community will be holding events and activities in honor of the town’s 250th anniversary.
“Everything is ready; we’re expecting a very nice event,” said Bill Groves, Cumberland Township supervisor and chairman of the Carmichaels Sestercentennial Committee.
The committee has been working for the last two years to prepare for a celebration to recognize Carmichaels’ founding.
“A lot of people have helped out on this,” Groves said.
Many have made donations to make the event possible. Quite a bit of interest has already been expressed in the community celebration, said Ann Bargerstock, a member of the sestercentennial committee.
“We have had numerous hits on our Facebook page, not only from people who live in the area but also from people outside the area who grew up here,” she said. “People in Carmichaels seem to come together for things like this.”
In recognition of the 250th celebration, a new history of the town has been prepared by Shelley Anderson and Carole Gideon and will be available for sale during events.
According to an earlier-prepared town history, Carmichaels was founding in 1767 after a group of early settlers arrived in the area. They included Thomas Hughes and James Carmichael.
The section of town now known as “old Town” was initially settled by Hughes and was first called Elizabeth.
Carmichael, a major in the Revolutionary War, at some point traded land he owned in what is now Jefferson for Hughes’ property in Elizabeth. Carmichael eventually laid out the plan of lots that became Carmichaels.
The community celebration will begin Thursday at the Carmichaels Senior Center with the American Legion Post 400 band performing at 5 p.m., followed by dinner at 6 p.m. and a Carmichaels trivia contest.
A limited number of tickets are still available for the dinner and can be obtained by calling Bargerstock at 724-255-5229.
On Friday, activities will include driving tours to give people an idea of how the community may have looked during its early years. The tours will begin at 2 p.m. at the Greene Academy.
Tours also will be offered from 1 to 4 p.m. of the newly-renovated Carmichaels Area elementary and middle-senior high school.
A car show also will be held from 4 to 8 p.m. Friday at Wana B Park. No registration fee will be charged; prizes will be awarded for the nicest vehicle of each decade.
Festivities pick up on Saturday, starting with a golf outing at 9 a.m. at Carmichaels Golf Course.
Civil War and fur-trapping reenactments, along with Native American-made pottery demonstrations and blacksmithing, will be featured at Wana B Park throughout the day.
Also during the day, the Carmichaels Town Square will be the hub for a street festival beginning at 9 a.m. that will include food and craft vendors, along with entertainment and musical acts in the afternoon.
There will also be antique train displays, a petting zoo and free horse and buggy rides at the Greene Academy during the day.
Sunday, the final day of the festival, will begin at 10:30 a.m. with a Sunday morning “old time church service” at Wana B Park with retired Rev. Harold Kelley and music by Heaven Bound Ministries. Those attending are asked to bring chairs with them.
Continuing with the historic theme, there will be an old-timer baseball double header played by teams in old-school uniforms and using rules from baseball’s inception in the 19th century.
“They have old balls, old bats, no gloves,” Groves said. “They didn’t use gloves in the old days,” he said.
The street festival in town square and activities at Greene Academy will continue that day until the celebration concludes about 5 p.m. Food will be available at all three locations.
Festival planners also have made it easy for those who want to enjoy events at all three locations.
Shuttle buses will be making rounds to transport people from one place to another.
“Once you have a parking spot, you can just leave your car there and we’ll move you around,” Groves said.
Groves said he expects a good turnout for the various events and festivities. “We’re just hoping for good weather,” he said.
“We think this will be a wonderful event,” Bargerstock added. “We’re just happy to be able to bring this to the community.”
More information about the festival can be found on Facebook by searching for the “Carmichaels 250th Birthday Celebration” page.