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What is the Old Jewish Cemetery in Chambersburg?
This hallowed ground is located in the middle of a quiet old neighborhood in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. Containing approximately 75 grave sites and the remaining foundation of a small funeral parlor, it is the burial ground of a 19th century society of Jewish immigrants whose earliest members arrived in Chambersburg before 1840 and nearly disappeared by the end of the century. Today, there is but a single family with any known connection to a relative buried there. The focal points of Jewish society are its synagogues and its cemeteries. This group of Orthodox Jews established its Israelite Benevolent Society, or Chevra Kaddishah to administer its cemetery, but it never established a synagogue. Members belonged to this burial society and performed their rituals at home. The size of the Jewish community was less than 100, but its members had an important impact on Chambersburg society. At the same time that its Jewish community flourished, Chambersburg was an important transportation crossroads in America, as well as an important venue in the Civil War.
The cemetery property was enclosed, but carried no identifying demarcation, at least to anyone's knowledge. That is the probable reason why the property has become known in the community as the "Old Jewish Cemetery."