The official newsletter of Gettysburg National Military Park • Spring 2009 • Vol. 16, No. 1

The Gettysburg Quarterly

National Park Service

U.S. Department of the Interior

The David Will s House Opens

Park News

In honor of Abraham Lincoln’s 200th birthday,

Gettysburg celebrated the opening of the David Wills

House in downtown Gettysburg, an official site within

Gettysburg National Military Park. More than 300

people gathered for the ribbon cutting on February 12,

and more than 9,000 people visited the site its first two

months of operation.

For the first time ever, the National Park Service has

created a museum to tell the story of the aftermath of

battle, and Lincoln’s visit to give the Gettysburg

Address. David Wills’ home was not just the center of

Gettysburg it was the center of the immense clean-up

process after the Battle of Gettysburg and where

President Lincoln put the finishing touches on the

Gettysburg Address. The speech transformed

Gettysburg’s community from a place of devastation to

the symbol of our nation’s new birth of freedom.

Main Street Gettysburg is operating the museum in

partnership with Gettysburg National Military Park.

The property –located at 8 Lincoln Square in

Gettysburg– is on the National Register of Historic

Places. More information is available on the web at

www.davidwillshouse.org

Caring for the Patterson

House

The park's maintenance staff has been painstakingly

restoring the Patterson House which dates to 1798 and

is located along Taneytown Road on the battlefield. In

the late fall, they disassembled the log structure in

order to replace numerous rotted logs and rebuild a

portion of the stone foundation. continued page 2

Above: Jim Getty as Abraham Lincoln in the David Wills House exhibit

of the Lincoln bedroom. Photo by Bill Dowling.

Below: David Wills House volunteers Andrew Dalton, left, and Grant Sanders

helped cut the ribbon.

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2 The Gettysburg Quarterly

Left: The Patterson House before

major restoration work started.

Photo by Bunny LaDouceur.

Below: Preservation carpenter

Jim Cordero hand trims a new

log for the Patterson House.

continued from page 1

The William Patterson house is the

oldest building within the

boundaries of Gettysburg National

Military Park. The building retains

a high level of integrity to the

historic period and has a high

percentage of original material

remaining in this building. In late

April the park began to rebuild the

log structure with some new logs

and many of the original logs that

had been treated for rot and insect

infestation.

In early April, the park

replanted four more historic

orchards in major battle action

areas on the battlefield so

visitors can better understand

the fighting and see the

battlefield through the eyes of

the soldiers fighting in 1863.

Hively Landscapes of Dover,

Pa., planted the trees –

including the 26 acre McMillan

Orchard which is the largest

orchard in the park. Also

included were the orchards at

the Timbers Farm, Klingel farm

and at the Joseph Spangler

farm at East Cavalry

Battlefield. The new orchard

trees are hardy varieties of

apple: Williams Pride,

Pristine, Gold Rush, Liberty,

Enterprise, and Freedom.

According to park historians,

almost every farm of any size

in 1863 Gettysburg had an

orchard, usually of a size in

proportion to the farmstead.

The orchards played many roles

during the battle—

cover from observation

or from fire for both

troops and artillery

batteries; concealment

during movement;

obstructions to

observation or clear

fields of fire; places

to gather to rest or

seek medical assistance.

Since 2000, the park

has replanted 110

acres at 36 historic

orchard sites. The goal is to

replant a total of 160 acres of

orchards throughout the major

battle action areas of the battlefield.

Four Historic Orchards Replanted

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Below: The newly planted orchard at the Klingel farm.

The Klingel House is on the left and will be

rehabilitated with special funding from the American

Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding.
Superintendent John Latschar

Gettysburg National Military Park

1195 Baltimore Pike, Suite 100

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania 17325

(717) 334-1124

www.nps.gov/gett

gett_superintendent@nps.gov

The Gettysburg Quarterly is

produced by the Public Affairs

Office, Gettysburg National Military

Park, National Park Service.

The National Park Service cares for

the special places saved by the

American people so that all may

experience our heritage.

Experience your America.

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Gettysburg National Military Park,

established in 1895, is the site of the

great Civil War battle that repulsed

the second Confederate invasion of

the North. The mission of the

National Park Service at Gettysburg

is to preserve and protect the

resources associated with the battle of

Gettysburg and the Soldiers’ National

Cemetery and provide an

understanding of the events that

occurred there within the context

of American history.

The Gettysburg Quarterly 3

The old Visitor Center falls.

Photo by: Barb Adams

Next up for Battlefield Rehab:

The next battlefield rehab projects at Gettysburg will be: continuing removal of

nonhistoric trees on the McAllister farm, near Spangler’s Spring and on 16 acres on

the west side of the historic McMillan farm. Health cuts will continue in historic

woodlots along Herr’s Ridge and at the McPherson/Wills woodlots. Depending on

funding, we may also be replanting historic orchards at the historic Frey and

Patterson farms on the battlefield.

Where are we now?

A New Look at Cemetery Ridge

Demolition of the old park Visitor

Center is nearly complete. The

structure was built originally in the

1920’s and operated for fifty years

as a private home and tourist

attraction owned by the Rosensteel

family. The NPS purchased the

building in the early 1970’s and

continued to operate the Electric

Map there until April 2008 when the

park’s new Museum and Visitor

Center opened two thirds of a mile

away. One of the goals of the project

has been to remove the two outdated

visitor facilities from an important

part of the battle line of the Union

Army in July 1863. Where the NPS

operated two buildings and two

parking lots, more than 900 soldiers

became casualties during the heavy

fighting on July 2 and 3, 1863.

Demolition of the Visitor Center is

the first phase of the project and is

being funded and managed by the

Gettysburg Foundation. Demolition

of the Cyclorama Building will not

occur until the resolution of a

federal lawsuit by plaintiffs who

want to preserve the 1962 structure.

(The time frame is uncertain.)

In a later phase the Gettysburg

Foundation and the NPS will

remove much of the parking areas

retaining some for National

Cemetery visitors and bring back

missing features such as Ziegler’s

Grove, fence lines, orchards, and

meadows.

The view from the Soldier’s National Cemetary looking

west across the site of the old Visitor Center.

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Action General Actions Completeed to Date

Management

Plan Goal

Non-Historic Tree 576 acres 284 acres completed

Removal

Health Cuts in Historic 278 acres 382 acres completed

Woodlots

Re-Planting Historic 115 acres 43 acres at 8 locations including: Oak Hill/Weikert/E. Cavalry - 5.8 acres

Wooded Areas Blocher - 6.9 acres, Wills-Winebrenner – 15.1 acres, East Cavalry – 15.2 acres

Orchard Replanting 160 acres 109 acres of orchards have been planted at 36 historic sites.

Replant/Manage Historic 65 acres 11 acres (41,762 plants) for replanting of historic thickets and 8.7 acres (21,194) for

Thickets and Restore riparian bufferzones 15.37 acres

Riparian Buffer Areas

Historic Fence 39 miles 10.65 miles

Restoration

Restoration/Rehabilitation Of 16.7 miles 5.22 miles of trail, including the Trostle farm lane and the Codori farm lane

Historic Farm Lanes For Hiking

and Horse Trails

Non-Historic Structures All National Tower, Fantasyland Buildings, Bucher Farm, Home Sweet Home Hotel

Removal Williams Quarry House, Kump House, Davidson Motor Company (Ford Dealership)

and more. . .
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Send Comments to:

Superintendent

Gettysburg National Military Park

1195 Baltimore Pike, Suite 100

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania 17325

Printed with funds donated by

Eastern National, a not-for-profit

partner of the National Park

Service and other public trusts.

printed on recycled paper

GettysburgReceivesFundingforRecoveryActProjects

On Earth Day, April 22, the National Park Service announced 800 projects totaling $750 million that can be

completed across the country with funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. This major

effort includes two projects at Gettysburg National Military Park:

• $322,000 to Rehabilitate Historic Daniel Klingel House for use as employee quarters.

• $395,000 to Replace 5,000 ft. of deteriorated waterline at McMillan Woods Scout Camp

“These projects are an investment in America’s future that will create jobs, stimulate the economies of local

communities, and get our country moving again,” Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar said. “They are also an

investment in telling the story of America to future generations through our national parks by conserving our awe- inspiring landscapes, our rich culture, and our great heritage.”

A full list of National Park Service projects is available at www.interior.gov/recovery/nps.

Other projects within the Northeast Region include $9.4 million to rehabilitate 16 historic overlooks along Skyline

Drive in Shenandoah National Park; $26 million to stabilize the Baggage and Dormitory Building and seawall at

Ellis Island; and $5 million to rehabilitate Independence Hall Tower.

All the projects announced on Earth Day were long-standing priorities of the National Park Service and met the

criteria put forth in the Recovery Act: namely, that a project addresses the Department’s highest priority mission

needs; generates the largest number of jobs in the shortest period of time; and creates lasting value for the American

public.

Secretary Salazar has pledged unprecedented levels of transparency and accountability in the implementation of the

Department’s economic recovery projects. The public will be able to follow the progress of each project on the

recovery web site and on www.interior.gov/recovery/nps.