The Borough's History
Mt. Holly Timeline
Industrial Beginnings
The area comprising present-day Mount Holly Springs was first settled by Europeans following the French and Indian War. The early settlers engaged in agriculture and various small-scale industries including lumbering and iron production.
The iron producers owned hundreds of timber or wooded acres on the South Mountain, which they used for the production of charcoal for their furnaces. Today, a few small stone dwellings from this era remain standing along S.R. 34 and S.R. 94 in the southern reaches of the borough.
In addition to the iron industry, the paper industry began in Mount Holly Springs in the early nineteenth century. The first mill was constructed along Mountain Creek by a firm named Barbour, McClure, and Knox in 1812. As was common in the paper-making industry, the mill owners purchased used rags and brought them to their factory where the water of the creek supplied both the motive power for their machines and clean water needed to produce high-quality paper. Although originally sites of handwork, the mills were later converted to using Fourdrinier machines, which were introduced to the United States in ca. 1830.
The village clearly provided a hospitable location for the industry because, by 1858, there were a total of four paper mills lining Mountain Creek. The 1858 Atlas of Cumberland County, prepared by H.F. Bridgens, shows the mills, and the various names given to the industrial enclaves including Mount Holly and Papertown.
The iron producers owned hundreds of timber or wooded acres on the South Mountain, which they used for the production of charcoal for their furnaces. Today, a few small stone dwellings from this era remain standing along S.R. 34 and S.R. 94 in the southern reaches of the borough.
In addition to the iron industry, the paper industry began in Mount Holly Springs in the early nineteenth century. The first mill was constructed along Mountain Creek by a firm named Barbour, McClure, and Knox in 1812. As was common in the paper-making industry, the mill owners purchased used rags and brought them to their factory where the water of the creek supplied both the motive power for their machines and clean water needed to produce high-quality paper. Although originally sites of handwork, the mills were later converted to using Fourdrinier machines, which were introduced to the United States in ca. 1830.
The village clearly provided a hospitable location for the industry because, by 1858, there were a total of four paper mills lining Mountain Creek. The 1858 Atlas of Cumberland County, prepared by H.F. Bridgens, shows the mills, and the various names given to the industrial enclaves including Mount Holly and Papertown.
Industry and Recreation
In the twentieth century, Mount Holly Springs was home to a diversity of shops and businesses, including clothing manufacturers, a sand quarry, various dry goods, and grocery stores, several bakeries, and a theater. Throughout the decades, with changes in ownership and modifications to the mills, the paper industry has continued to thrive in Mount Holly Springs.
Today, the borough remains a center of industrial production in Cumberland County. Two paper mills remain in operation, along with a nearby glass factory and microchip production facility. Mountain Creek, Mount Holly Springs’ lifeblood since the eighteenth century, continues to flow down from the mountains bolstered by the borough’s eponymous springs, passing the paper mills and former park before skirting residences and businesses on its way to the Yellow Breeches Creek.
Today, the borough remains a center of industrial production in Cumberland County. Two paper mills remain in operation, along with a nearby glass factory and microchip production facility. Mountain Creek, Mount Holly Springs’ lifeblood since the eighteenth century, continues to flow down from the mountains bolstered by the borough’s eponymous springs, passing the paper mills and former park before skirting residences and businesses on its way to the Yellow Breeches Creek.
Mt. Holly Today
In the twentieth century, Mount Holly Springs was home to a diversity of shops and businesses, including: clothing manufacturers, a sand quarry, various dry goods and grocery stories, several bakeries, and a theater. Throughout the decades, with changes in ownership and modifications to the mills, the paper industry has continued to thrive in Mount Holly Springs.
Today, the borough remains a center of industrial production in Cumberland County. Two paper mills remain in operation, along with a nearby glass factory and microchip production facility. Mountain Creek, Mount Holly Springs’ lifeblood since the eighteenth century, continues to flow down from the mountains bolstered by the borough’s eponymous springs, passing the paper mills and former park before skirting residences and businesses on its way to the Yellow Breeches Creek.
Today, the borough remains a center of industrial production in Cumberland County. Two paper mills remain in operation, along with a nearby glass factory and microchip production facility. Mountain Creek, Mount Holly Springs’ lifeblood since the eighteenth century, continues to flow down from the mountains bolstered by the borough’s eponymous springs, passing the paper mills and former park before skirting residences and businesses on its way to the Yellow Breeches Creek.