OLD TOWN PUMP
- Program
- Subject
- Location
- Lat/Long
- Grant Recipient
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Legends & Lore®
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Legend
- 1 S Hanover St, Carlisle, PA 17013, USA
- 40.200953, -77.189126
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Destination Carlisle, Inc.
OLD TOWN PUMP
Inscription
OLD TOWN PUMPWHOEVER DRANK THE WATERS
FROM THE PUMP LOCATED HERE
WOULD BE DESTINED TO RETURN
TO CARLISLE NO MATTER HOW
FAR AWAY THEY TRAVELED.
THE PENNSYLVANIA CENTER FOR FOLKLORE
WILLIAM G. POMEROY FOUNDATION 2021
In Carlisle, Pennsylvania, lives a legend that anyone who drinks from a particular town pump was destined to return to the community, no matter how far away they ventured. This deep-rooted Carlisle lore has endured since the early 1800s. An uncredited proverb reads:
If you drink of the old town pump, you will wish to live and die in Carlisle.
Originally located in the municipal square, the old town pump was thought to yield water with mysterious powers. It is believed this local legend derives from a persistent observation that youngsters who left Carlisle for new opportunities were inexplicably drawn back to town. Explanations for this overwhelmingly pointed to a common source: drinking the alluring waters of the old town pump.
To this day, some residents claim they left town for one reason or another with no intention of coming back, but yet somehow found themselves returning to Carlisle without a clear reason why. They say it must be something in the water.
. In 2021, a replica of the old town pump was created to coincide with the dedication ceremony of this Legends & Lore marker, and the local Molly Pitcher Brewing Company released a pale ale in its honor.
