FULTON COUNTY

County Offices
201 North 2nd Street
McConnellsburg 717-485-3691
www.co.fulton.pa.us

Chamber of Commerce
PO Box 141
McConnellsburg 717-485-4064
www.fultoncountypa.com

The rural and sparsely populated area known as Fulton County is approximately a two-hour drive from the capital city of Harrisburg. More developed urban centers like Chambersburg and Breezewood are closer to home for expanded cultural amenities, convenient services, and shopping. The county government seat of McConnellsburg serves as a hub for higher education and advanced healthcare, home to the Fulton County Medical Center and the Penn State Cooperative Extension.

Historic sites and treasures from yesterday dot the county landscape, a few of them preserved in tiny villages like Fort Littleton, Burnt Cabins, Harrisonville, and Hustontown. While the latter boasted two stores, a hotel, blacksmith shop, and seven residents in 1850, only a country store remains today. The linear village of Burnt Cabins nestled at the foot of Tuscarora Mountain was once an important stopping place, offering inns and taverns to 18th and 19th century travelers. Many historic homes remain, some that were built with logs and others with stone or brick.

Even the highways in Fulton County claim historic significance. The bridle path established by William McConnel in 1761 became known as “Water Street” for the stream in McConnellsburg that flowed beneath it. By the early 1800s, this trail became a toll road known as the Chambersburg-Bedford Turnpike that lasted for a century. Today, this thoroughfare is known as the Lincoln Highway and provides the major east/west road through Fulton County. The Lincoln Highway was America’s first coast-to-coast highway stretching from New York City to San Francisco.

Services
Residents of Fulton County have the advantage of country living without sacrificing the finest in healthcare and educational facilities and services. Support for education is strong on all levels, with volunteers from the local community and active parents playing an important role. The Penn State Cooperative Extension provides residents of Fulton County with easy access to the resources associated with the highly respected Pennsylvania State University. These cooperative extensions make it possible for those in the rural counties to enjoy educational programs and special events that would otherwise require lengthy commutes.

State-of-the-art healthcare is available at the regional Fulton County Medical Center in McConnellsburg. FCMC was originally built in 1950 with a long-term care facility added in 1976. The hospital provides a complete array of medical, surgical, and critical-care services that include extensive outpatient services. Innovative programs like cardiac rehabilitation provide proactive advice on the behaviors that encourage healthy hearts. The home-care program brings a skilled team of professionals into the home for intensive, ongoing care or follow-up care. Other specialized services that are available through the medical center include nutritional counseling, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and a 57-bed nursing home.

Lifestyle
Quiet, serene, and picturesque, rural Fulton County blends modern conveniences and services with a rich sense of history. Jewels like the Asbury Church built in 1841 are remarkably preserved in some cases. Built from stones and lumber from Sideling Hill Mountain, the structure includes the original pews, pulpit, and Deacon’s bench. The Burnt Cabins Grist Mill is more than 200 years old and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, yet this water-powered mill still produces flour that is sold nationally.

Nestled in a hollow east of Tuscarora Mountain is the scenic Cowans Gap State Park, a rambling park that stretches over 1,000 acres and encompasses a pristine 42-acre lake. As a recreational area constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps, the lake and surrounding parkland offer outdoor adventures from swimming, fishing, and boating to picnicking and hiking. Campsites and cabins are available for enjoyment and educational programs offered by rangers are open to the public. Meadows Grounds Lake southwest of McConnellsburg is a 208-acre site operated by the Pennsylvania Fish & Game Commission that allows hunting, fishing, ice fishing, boating, and hiking. Another popular recreational amenity is the Great Cove Golf & Recreation Club just three miles south of McConnellsburg, where an 18-hole championship golf course complements the swimming pool and tennis courts.

Rosebud Valley Nature Center was originally the property of an amateur naturalist and lawyer who created the sanctuary early in the 20th century as a retreat for songbirds. His continual plantings of trees, blooms, and flowering shrubs resulted in today’s 40-acre botanical garden and arboretum, managed by the Pennsylvania Department of Forestry as part of Buchanan State Forest. Just east of the line separating Fulton from Bedford County is Sideling Hill, a panoramic picnic area with spectacular mountaintop views from Route 30. Pavilions, picnic tables, and play or rest areas combine with a registry where passing cyclists can record their climb up the mountain. A network of trails across the mountain offers hilly and flat terrain, while bicyclists can access a 10-mile stretch of abandoned Pennsylvania Turnpike. The 252-mile Tuscarora Trail from Pennsylvania into Virginia enters Buchanan State Forest near spring Run, travels southwest along Tuscarora Mountain, and descends into Allen’s Valley and Cowans Gap State Park. Wherever you decide to settle in Fulton County, opportunities to enjoy nature’s bounty are waiting just beyond your front doorstep.


McConnellsburg

Municipal Offices
717-485-3690
https://www.co.fulton.pa.us/municipalities-mcconnellsburg-borough.php

Chamber of Commerce
717-485-4064
www.fultoncountypa.com

Serving as the seat of county government and the most highly developed community in the region, McConnellsburg retains a character that reflects its significance as a stopping place along the main road from Philadelphia to Fort Duquesne and the western United States. The main street of town grew up along this major thoroughfare instead of surrounding the town square. The borough holds important examples of Fulton County’s rich history. The 1851 Fulton County Courthouse, the 1880 Wible Law Office, founder Daniel McConnel’s home, and the 1793 Georgian-influenced stone tavern known as the Fulton House are all remnants of the region’s industrious first settlers. The well-preserved eastern end of the Fulton House that escaped damage from fire over the ages provides a display area for the Fulton County Historical Society Museum. Residents of McConnellsburg are able to take advantage of the first-rate recreational opportunities that surround their comfortable home in regional parks, forests, and preserves.

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