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Gettysburg, Pennsylvania: Where History Comes AliveIf you’re fascinated with history, intrigued by old buildings or just plain curious, you’ll appreciate Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
It’s a living community with a small town friendly feeling that filled with a sense of the past.
You can almost feel the past when you stroll the historic streets of this famous American borough of 8,000. Hostory lingers here. However,
you’ll also discover when you make your way to the Lincoln Square (it’s really a circle) that one of the ultimate charms of this place is that the new
co-exists with the past. If the buildings could speak they’d be talking up a blue streak. After all they’ve played witness to over 143
years of history.
Exploring GettysburgWalking along the brick sidewalks it’s easy to picture the streets filled with horse-drawn carriages and buggies. Take time to explore. One stand out find is Abe’s Antiques and its proprietor Bill Ciampa. Everyone calls him Abe. He’s a spitting image of Abe Lincoln. Pick up some confederate money as a souvenir.Be photographed with a life-like statue of Abe Lincoln who stands on the sidewalk outside Will’s House where he stayed while in Gettysburg. Sign up for a downtown walking tour at the nearby historic 1797 Gettysburg Hotel or the Historic Lincoln Train Station. Stacey Fox, Director of Marketing for the Gettysburg Convention and Visitors Bureau said, Make no mistake -- this borough is about the biggest battle ever fought on American soil. This Civil War battle that took place July 1st, 2nd and 3rd, 1863. This battle pitted Confederate general Robert E. Lee’s army of 75,000 against the Union general George Meade’s 97,000. The fight culminated with the famous Confederate charge by Pickett’s division against the Union positions at Cemetery Ridge. Fifty minutes later, the South had suffered 10,000 casualties, with combined losses on both sides of 51,000. Together with the Union victory at Vicksburg on July 4th , the battle is considered a turning point in the war. Fox continued, You can’t mention Gettysburg without thinking about U.S. President Abraham Lincoln’s famous Gettysburg Address which he delivered at the dedication of the National Soldiers’ Cemetery on November 19th of the same year. Lincolns' Gettysburg Address
Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives that this nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate…we cannot consecrate…we cannot hallow…this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us, the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us…that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion; that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom; and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. November 19, 1863
One of the ways to learn about Gettysburg history is to visit the newly opened Gateway Theatre
. Here you can see a 30-minute film Fields of Freedom which immerses you in the famous battle shown on a three-story, large-format digital
screen.
Next day you might want to take a tour of former U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s 14 room farm home. Little has changed since President Eisenhower and his wife Mamie occupied the home. Since 1979 the home has been administered by the National Park Service. Food and LodgingAfter a hard days work of sightseeing head to the Dobbin House Springhouse Tavern for a casual and reasonably priced meals meal. It’s Gettysburg’s oldest standing house built in 1776. The thing that will strike you is the smell. The fireplace burns hardwood producing smoky aroma which wafts through the air and welcomes you with the warmth and comfort of home. Serving "wenches" dressed as they would have been in the 1770s. Try the baked King’s Onion Soup. You’ll need a knife to cut the cheese that sticks to the top. Wash it down with a mug of Troegs micro brewed Pale Ale.Keystone Inn Bed and Breakfast is a white turn-of-the-century home with a sweeping porch is a tranquil and quiet place to spend the evening. Wilmer and Doris Martin are the gracious owners and hosts of this special Bed and Breakfast. This is the perfect place to slow down the world around us. You can relax on the white wicker furniture on the porch that beckons you to sit and read. Inside the fully renovated 1913 Victorian brick home an oak and chestnut staircase marches to the third floor. There are five air-conditioned rooms all with private baths, firm beds, comfortable chairs and reading nooks. Small touches, such as night lights, fresh flowers and up to date magazines don’t go unnoticed. Doris cooks up superb hearty breakfasts and Wilmer with a smile is your server. This is a place you’ll want to return -- in fact, ne person who returned on the night of our visit was 99 year old Paul Reaser, a retired Pastor who had lived in the home as a youngster. You see his Mom and Dad built the home. Paul Reaser was sharp as a tack and he recalled where all of his 6 siblings had their height marked on a hallway wall. Our breakfast room was once the parlour where his father would gather all the family each evenings for Bible reading. An ivory clock, bought at an auction by his father, still sits on the mantle of a fireplace in the same room.
George Bailey is a professional photographer and writer. He is a member of the Travel Media Association of Canada and writes a regular column for Canadian CAA Magazine. He can be contacted at Wonderful.life@sympatico.ca. Photos courtesy of George Bailey. © 2007
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You can tour the Gettysburg National Military Park by bus, bike, horse or car. The 