The Plainfield Service Plaza was one of 10 original plazas on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, named for the nearby village of Plainfield, and it welcomed its first customers on October 1, 1940, when the Turnpike opened to traffic. The plaza closed on September 6, 2011, to be completely rebuilt, and it reopened on May 9, 2012, as the Cumberland Valley Service Plaza, a name adopted with the Cumberland Valley Visitor's Bureau to better reflect the region's history, quality of life, and culture. Plainfield, settled in 1793 by Jacob Alter, is the largest village in West Pennsboro Township and lies five miles west of Carlisle, Pennsylvania; it was originally nicknamed Smoketown because of the number of blacksmiths there. Turnpike service plazas were designed to resemble regional architecture, and the Plainfield Plaza and others were inspired by Pennsylvania's stone farmhouses.