The official newsletter of Gettysburg National Military Park • Fall 2006 • Vol. 13, No. 2

The Gettysburg Quarterly

National Park Service

U.S. Department of the Interior

Gettysburg National Military Park, the

Gettysburg Foundation, and the Gettysburg

community are working to create a

“seamless” story of the battle of Gettysburg

for visitors by telling compelling stories of

the battle through town, the aftermath of

battle in the town, the civilian experience

during the tragic days of July 1863, and the

town’s recovery. The master plan for this

effort, known as the “Interpretive Plan for

the Borough of Gettysburg,” was created in

2000 and is being implemented by Main

Street Gettysburg. Main Street’s goals are

to preserve the town’s historic resources,

expand interpretation, enhance the

economic benefits of tourism in the

community, and improve the quality of life

for residents and visitors. 

Momentum is building in Gettysburg’s

downtown on several of these projects, some

of which have already been completed and

others will be coming on line in the next two

years. Gettysburg College restored the

Majestic Theater in downtown Gettysburg

and it now operates as a performing arts

center and cinema. Gettysburg’s historic

Train Station is owned by the Borough and

is now fully restored. It is being developed

as a downtown information station and

orientation space and will be a destination

for the planned park/downtown shuttle.

The Wills House is on the National Register

of Historic Places, and enjoys national

renown as the place where President

Abraham Lincoln spent the night before

delivering the Gettysburg Address on

November 19, 1863. Construction will begin

To commemorate D-Day at the

Eisenhower National Historic Site, 

World War II reenactor Marc Hermann

represented a paratrooper of “Easy”

Company of the 506th Parachute Infantry

Regiment, which was part of the 101st

Airborne Division. This is the unit of

“Band of Brothers” fame. Hermann wore

the uniform of this unit as they appeared

during the Normandy Invasion, and he

displayed equipment carried during their

jump into France. Some of the bigger

crowd pleasers were the yellow rubber life

vest, reserve parachute pack, boxes of “K”

rations, and the brass “Cricket” clicker that

was used as a signaling device between

soldiers among the dark hedgerows.

Eisenhower spent time visiting the

members of the 101st in the hours before

the invasion kicked off. Of the 6,600 men

of the Division who parachuted into

France, over 50 percent were casualties. 

Hermann is an Eastern National employee

and an NPS Volunteer. 

For another look at World War II living

history visit the Eisenhower site on

September 16 and 17. See “events” on

page four for more information.

Momentum Builds in Downtown Gettysburg 

Marc Hermann portraying

aparatrooper at the

Eisenhower National

Historic Site.

Marc Hermann portraying

a paratrooper at the

Eisenhower National

Historic Site.

Living History at the Eisenhower Site

Park News
2 The Gettysburg Quarterly

Another year of battlefield rehabilitation

got off to a start in mid-July as contractors

began removing non-historic trees from

areas along the Confederate battle line at

Seminary Ridge near the McMillan farm.

Crews are also finishing up areas near

Devil’s Den. The work underway on the

historic McMillan farm will reopen the

fields of fire for numerous Confederate

artillery batteries, as well as allow the park

to replant the largest orchard on the

Gettysburg battlefield from the 1863 period

-- the 26 acre McMillan orchard. July is

the season when work crews can usually

begin cutting non-historic trees since birds

have finished nesting and the ground is

usually hard, provided the summer has

been dry. Work is expected to continue,

weather permitting, through March.

Battlefield rehabilitation is bringing back

historic farm fields, woodlots, orchards,

fences, and farm lanes that affected the

fighting of the battle of Gettysburg and had

disappeared or changed since 1863. The

project improves visitor understanding of

the battle of Gettysburg by allowing visitors

to see the battlefield the way the soldiers

did at the time of the fighting. The project

is being phased in over time and includes

environmental benefits such as restoration

of wetlands and improving water quality

and habitat. For more information go to the

park’s website at: www.nps.gov/gett 

later this year to rehabilitate the structure to its

1863 appearance, and install exhibits for its future

life as a public Lincoln Museum. The museum

will open in 2008. Exhibit designers Gallagher

and Associates are creating the exhibits in the

Wills House and the Train Station, as well as those in the new

Museum and Visitor Center, which will help achieve the goal

of seamless interpretation.

Two other major projects are in development now to improve

the visitor experience: a shuttle system connecting the new

park museum and visitor center with several sites in the town

and a new, updated signage system throughout the park and

the town. The shuttle system, a joint project between the park,

the Borough of Gettysburg, and the Adams County Transit

Authority, will alleviate traffic congestion and create new

opportunities for visitors to experience the town on foot 

(with a beneficial side effect of increased visitor spending). 

The partners are also working on a project to create a new

system of signs, called Wayfinding. This coordinated effort will

address four needs: 

1. Gettysburg Foundation’s need for new directional signage from

the highways to the new museum and visitor center

2. Gettysburg National Military Park’s need for new and updated

signs to replace a system that is 30 years old and failing

3. A combined need between the Park and the Borough for

new wayfinding systems within the town to reduce

confusing sign clutter and improve wayfinding for both cars

and pedestrians.

4. Signs needed for the new shuttle system.

Happily, all four of these sign projects are being coordinated and

Gallagher and Associates, designers of both the new museum

exhibits and the Wills House exhibits, will be designing new

wayfinding systems for all four needs. 

Reopening the Confederate

Battle Line

Crews from Pennington Tree Experts working along

the Confederate battle line near the McMillan farm.

Left: Deteriorated signs at Gettysburg

National Military Park. 

Bottom: Confusing sign clutter along

Lincoln Avenue in Gettysburg.

Momentum

(continued from cover)
Heavy equipment continues to roll at the

site of the park’s new museum and visitor

center. Already walls are starting to rise up

from the huge hole in the ground where the

building will be. In another month,

contractors will be putting up the structural

steel for the 139,000 square foot structure.

An exciting aspect of the new museum is

that it meets “Leadership in Energy and

Environmental Design” (LEED)

certification requirements established by

the U.S. Green Building Council. LEED

projects must meet strict standards for

energy efficiency, ozone protection,

indoor air quality, prudent site

development protection, and space

allowances for supporting occupant and

visitor recycling programs. Some of the

new museum’s environmentally-sensitive

design features include:

• Heating and cooling systems that use

geothermal energy. A more costly but

more energy efficient system, the

geothermal system uses the constant 55

degree temperature of the earth to heat

and cool the water used in the system.

Approximately 200 wells, each 400’

deep and 6” in diameter, will form the

thermal shield (located under the

parking lot). The wells will be linked

with piping in a closed loop system. 

• Water efficiency and storm water

management strategies that contribute

to energy efficiency and local

environmental protection including:

high efficiency plumbing fixtures and a

storm water capture and retention

system that manages runoff quantities

and soil erosion.

• Landscaping with native, adaptive, and

drought resistant plants that require no

irrigation. Plants will be watered only

through rain events. 

• Recycled building materials including

100% recycled gypsum board for the

interior walls. Other materials used in

the construction that will be at least

50% recycled materials are: rebar,

structural steel, metal studs, metal

decking, and metal stairs. Carpets,

ceiling and flooring tiles, insulation,

woodwork, and other features will also

have some recycled content.

Gettysburg Foundation President Bob

Wilburn has announced that they have

now raised $86 million in the Campaign

to Preserve Gettysburg. To learn more

and participate in the effort go to the

website www.gettysburgfoundation.org

Superintendent John Latschar

Gettysburg National Military Park

97 Taneytown Road

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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Environmental Excellence in the

New Museum

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

A hive of activity at the construction site for the park’s new museum.
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Send Comments to:

Superintendent

Gettysburg National Military Park

97 Taneytown Road

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

Sept. 2-3 Living History Weekend: Purcell’s Battery at Pitzer

Woods. 44th Pennsylvania Infantry at Spangler’s

Spring.

Sept. 9-10 Living History Weekend: Fluvanna (Virginia) Artillery

at Pitzer Woods. 13th New Jersey Infantry at Spangler’s

Spring.

Sept. 16-17 World War II Weekend: A living history encampment

at the Eisenhower National Historic Site. Featuring

Allied soldiers, a German camp, and World War II

vintage jeeps, trucks and tanks. Saturday, 9-5; Sunday,

9-4. Included in site admission. (717) 338-9114.

Sept. 16-17 Living History Weekend: Parker’s Battery, CSA at

Pitzer Woods. The “Rowdy Pards” Light Infantry at

Spangler’s Spring.

Sept. 23-24 Living History Weekend: Co. A, 2nd United States

Cavalry at Pitzer Woods.

Sept. 30-31 Living History Weekend: 5th New York Infantry at

the Pennsylvania Memorial. 28th Virginia Infantry at

Pitzer Woods. United States Sharpshooters at Little

Round Top.

Oct. 7-8 Living History Weekend: 150th New York Infantry at

the Pennsylvania Memorial. Western New York

Chapter, United States Sanitary Commission at Pitzer

Woods.

Oct. 14-15 Living History Weekend: 2nd United States

Sharpshooters at Pitzer Woods.

Oct. 21-22 Living History Weekend: Ohio Valley Civil War

Association at the Pennsylvania Memorial. (Includes

Infantry, Artillery, Signal Corps, Medical,

Sharpshooters and more).

Oct. 28-29 Living History Weekend: Battery F, 1st Pennsylvania

Artillery at the Pennsylvania Memorial. United States

Sharpshooters at Little Round Top.

Nov. 18 Remembrance Day Parade and Ceremonies.

Civil War living history groups. Begins at 1:30 p.m.

Sponsored by the Sons of Union Veterans.

4th Annual Remembrance Illumination, Soldiers’

National Cemetery. Sponsored by the Gettysburg

Foundation. Luminary candles will be placed on each

Civil War grave as a testament to the sacrifices made

here in 1863. 5:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m. For information

contact the Foundation at (717) 338-1243.

Nov. 19 143rd Anniversary of the Gettysburg Address.

Tom Brokaw will be speaking at this annual ceremony

in the Soldiers’ National Cemetery at 3 p. m. A wreathlaying will begin at 2:45 p.m. Sponsored by the Lincoln

Fellowship of Pennsylvania.

Dec. 1-31 An Eisenhower Christmas. The Eisenhower home is

decorated for the holidays. (717) 338-9114.

This information is subject to change.

For more information go to www.nps.gov/gett

Upcoming Special Events