William Culbertson House

Born in New York in 1833, William Culbertson was raised in Warren, Ohio, where he learned the trade of a carriagemaker. Upon moving to Mechanicsburg in 1853, he worked as a journeyman for three years before beginning his own carriage manufacturing business in 1856 with Cyrus Barr. Their partnership was highly successful; by 1880, Culbertson and Barr had developed a reputation as one of the region's premier manufacturers of carriages, buggies, and spring wagons, as well as operating a livery from 1860 to 1874 and remaining a well-reputed repair center.^{[2]: 882–883} One year later, Culbertson had his residence built, fifteen years after Barr had arranged for the construction of his house.^[1] Culbertson himself was active in local society; he was a member of the Mechanicsburg Methodist Protestant Church and the Odd Fellows, and was the Prohibitionist candidate in numerous local elections.^[2]: 883 The firm remained in business into the twentieth century, weathering the transition to mechanization by becoming a dealer for Ford, Hudson, and Jeffery cars,^[3] but the business burned in a catastrophic 1936 fire that was so large that it damaged the tower of the adjacent Second Baptist Church.^[4] As a result, the Culbertson and Barr residences are the sole remaining buildings associated with the firm.^[5]: 6