Southampton Township, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania
township in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania
Southampton Township is a township in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 6,359 at the 2010 census, up from 4,787 at the 2000 census.
Geography
Southampton Township occupies the southwestern corner of Cumberland County, bordered by Franklin County to the west and Adams County to the south. The township borders the borough of Shippensburg and neighboring Shippensburg Township on their north, east, and south. The northern half of the township is within the Cumberland Valley, while the southern half is occupied by South Mountain, with elevations exceeding 2,060 feet (630 m) in the Big Flat area of the mountain.
Interstate 81 crosses the northern part of the township, with access from Exit 29 (Pennsylvania Route 174). U.S. Route 11 crosses the township parallel to and north of I-81.
Unincorporated communities in the township include Middle Spring in the northwest, Lees Cross Roads in the east, and Cleversburg near the center. Most of the South Mountain part of the township is covered by Michaux State Forest, although there are private land holdings in the Big Flat area.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 51.6 square miles (133.6 km2), of which 51.4 square miles (133.2 km2) is land and 0.15 square miles (0.4 km2), or 0.32%, is water.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Southampton Township, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania” as township in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as township in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 22, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5413377. Authority coordinates are 40.050, -77.466. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2010 and 2000.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Southampton Township, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Southampton Township, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania primary sources, Southampton Township, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania archive and Southampton research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Southampton Township, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania”?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Southampton Township, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.