Mt. Gretna: A Coleman Legacy

About the Book

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.

About the Author

Born in Harrisburg, John Donald Bitner, Sr. known as "Mr. Mt. Gretna" graduated from the John Harris High School in 1935. Served in the U.S. Army Air Corp until 1938 at which time he enrolled in aeronautical engineering at the University of Pittsburgh. In his senior year he met his future wife, Jeanine Stephenson. Upon graduation Jack was commissioned into the U.S. Army Air Force where he served during WWII. After the war, Jack and Jeanine were married and Jack became employed with Martin Aircraft Co in Baltimore, MD. At Martin Jack designed several missiles one of which was deployed in Germany and Okinawa as an atomic deterrent. upon retirement, he and Jeanine bough a home in Mt. Gretna where his family always had a cottage going back to his grandparents at the first campmeeting in 1892. Jack died in his beloved Mt. Gretna in March 2008.