A Place to Get Away, Then and Now
For more than a century, this corner of the West Shore was a place where people came to get away. Open country, high ground, farms and wooded streams, close enough to reach in a morning and far enough to feel like somewhere else.
Some people came from far away. Just up on the Yellow Breeches Creek in 1850, the Williams family began hosting community picnics on their land. These gatherings at Williams Grove would evolve into one of the world’s largest farm exhibitions of the era, gathering up to 100,000 visitors from 30 states.
Others came from nearby. Harrisburg families packed up for the summer and headed out to a colony of 12 cottages along the Breeches. The swimming hole had everything to keep a family occupied. Kids would spend whole afternoons on the diving board and wooden water slide. The dance pavilion ran on nickelodeon music and stayed full into the night.
Some visitors left their mark. The McCormicks were arguably Harrisburg’s wealthiest family in the early 20th century, and they built three estates nearby so they could escape the noise and heat of the city every summer.
The nearest was Cona, Henry McCormick’s mountainside retreat where he and his wife spent the season. The roads here still bear their name—McCormick Road meets Arcona Road, the “ar” thought to mean “arrival at Cona.”
Everyone who traveled that road kept coming back for the open space and easy pace. We chose the name Arcona because that’s still the story of this land.