[11][13] The Penn family encouraged settlement in the area in order to strengthen its case in a border dispute with the Maryland Colony, which had resulted in hostilities known as Cresap's War.

The articles of the Town shall be read on the day appointed for the drawing of the Lots, and the terms of the sale published by meThe first settlers were Scots-Irish Presbyterians; German Protestants came soon afterward.

Relatively few Quakers and English Protestants (who made up a large proportion of early Pennsylvania settlers generally) settled as far west as Chambersburg.

James Chambers fought for seven years during the revolution, reaching the rank of Colonel of Continental Army troops on September 26, 1776.

[32] James Chambers commanded local troops at the Battle of Long Island, and at White Plains, Trenton, Princeton, Brandywine, Germantown, and Monmouth.

He was part of the rear guard covering the retreat from Brooklyn, and was wounded at the Battle of Brandywine while facing Hessian troops under General Knuphausen at Chadds Ford.

[34] President George Washington, while leading United States troops against the rebels, came through town on the way from Carlisle to Bedford, staying overnight on October 12, 1794.

After sending the troops toward Pittsburgh from Bedford under General Henry "Light Horse Harry" Lee, Washington returned through Chambersburg sometime between October 21 and 26.

By 1859, Chambersburg's active community of free and enslaved blacks and sympathetic whites had attracted a stop on the Underground Railroad.

John Brown stayed in an upstairs room at Mary Ritner's boarding house between June and October, 1859 while preparing for his raid on Harpers Ferry (then in Virginia).

Stuart, with 1,800 cavalrymen, raided Chambersburg, destroying $250,000 of railroad property and taking 500 guns, hundreds of horses, and enslaving "eight young colored men and boys.

"[44] They failed, however, to accomplish one of the main targets of the raid: to burn the railroad bridge across the Conococheague Creek at Scotland, five miles (8 km) north of town.

Gen. Albert G. Jenkins occupied the town and burned several warehouses and Cumberland Valley Railroad structures and the bridge at Scotland.

From June 24–28, 1863, much of the Army of Northern Virginia passed through Chambersburg[46][47] en route to Carlisle and Gettysburg, and General Robert E. Lee established his headquarters at a nearby farm.

Early had ordered the ransom as compensation for those residents of the Shenandoah Valley whose homes has been burned by Union Brig.-Gen. David Hunter.

[52] According to McCausland report the only death occurred when one of his soldiers was killed in the vicinity of the town after his troops left and no citizens lost their lives.

[53] One black Chambersburg resident was burned to death when Confederates set his house on fire and then refused to allow him to leave, trapping him in the flames.

Gen. William W. Averell, although initially misdirected toward Baltimore and thus late to arrive to prevent the atrocities, also pursued the Confederates, who sustained several defeats and lost most of the Shenandoah Valley by November.

Furthermore, when the Army of Northern Virginia surrendered on April 9, 1865, Early escaped to Texas by horseback, where he hoped to find a Confederate force still holding out.

As discussed further below, Chambersburg was the site of one of the 69 schools established by Pennsylvania to educate children orphaned by the war, and which remained when all other such were closed decades later.

To this day, the Civil War burning of Chambersburg remains a part of the town's historic identity and yearly memorial events are held, especially near July 30.

[70] Manufacturing in Chambersburg includes machinery production, metal fabrication, and food processing according to the 1997 Economic Census of Franklin County.

[71] The largest sectors by payroll were manufacturing companies such as T B Wood's Inc., Manitowoc cranes, retail trade, and health care and social assistance.

It offers a wide range of lessons, classes, workshops, and summer camps, as well as presenting numerous recitals and concerts in Thomson Hall.

[76]The municipal government operates under the Pennsylvania Borough Code, with the town council holding both legislative and executive authority.

There are currently six different school districts with students attending FCCTC: Chambersburg, Fannett-Metal, Greencastle-Antrim, Shippensburg, Tuscarora, and Waynesboro.

Other members include Anne Boryan, Renee Sharpe, Norman Blowers, Lori Leedy, Fred Rice, Dave Schiamanna, and Joe Tosten.

[88] Scotland School was founded in 1863 after two orphaned children begging for food knocked on the door of Pennsylvania's governor, Andrew Gregg Curtin of Centre County north of Chambersburg.

Over time, the number of eligible students declined, and in 1895 all of the schools closed except that located in the unincorporated village of Scotland about four miles (6 km) north of Chambersburg.

More than 10,000 students were educated at the school before it closed in 2009, when Pennsylvania's legislators concurred in the decision of Governor Ed Rendell to remove funding.