Jack Bitner

Mt. Gretna: a Coleman Legacy Jack Bitner

Jack Bitner researched the history of Mt. Gretna from the time the area was used for wood to make charcoal for the Cornwall Iron Furnace a few miles away to the development of the area as the town of Mt. Gretna with its amusement park, the home of the PA National Guard from 1885 to 1935 to the founding of the PA Chautauqua and the settlement of The Brethren in Christ Campmeeting, both in 1892. This book was written and published in 1992 to celebrate the one hundredth anniversary of the PA Chautauqua & the Campmeeting. This is a colorful story about Robert Habersham Coleman, owner of the land, developing this community until his financial reversals in 1893 and the struggles to provide the unique community it is today.