Golf in Chambersburg

Chambersburg carries a distinction unique in the North: it is the only Northern city burned by Confederate forces during the Civil War. In July 1864, Confederate cavalry under General McCausland demanded ransom and, when it went unpaid, put the town to the torch. The rebuilt commercial district along Lincoln Way is a product of that destruction and the decades of recovery that followed. Franklin County's Cumberland Valley position — the same broad limestone trough that runs from Maryland north past Harrisburg — gave Chambersburg its strategic importance during the war and its agricultural wealth before and after. Warehouses and distribution centers have replaced some of the county's farm economy, but the valley floor remains productive and the mountain ridges frame the view from most courses in the area. Golf in Chambersburg draws from the county seat's commercial and residential population and from the military communities associated with nearby Fort Loudoun.