| Page Views: 3,598 Last Visit to Gettysburg: October, 2003 | Gettysburg, history to discover by tompt - last update: Mar 20, 2005 |
| Civil war re-enactment in front of the museum |
Gettysburg is known for its role in the American Civil War and President Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. But there was a Gettysburg before that. The land which is now Adams County was purchased from the Iroquois Indians by the family of William Penn in 1736. Within a few years 150 families came to this area, then known by the name Marsh Creek. Many of these settlers were Scottish-Irish.
One early settler, Samuel Gettys, established a tavern in 1761. By 1786 his son James had laid out a town of 210 lots with a central town square on the land surrounding the tavern. This town would become known as Gettysburg.
A new county was approved in 1800 and was named after the President John Adams. Gettysburg was chosen as the county seat.
In 1860 the town of Gettysburg had 2,400 inhabitants with ten roads leading into the town. These roads would lead two armies into the county in 1863. At the time of the Battle of Gettysburg, there were about 450 buildings housing carriage manufacturing, shoemakers and tanneries as well as the usual merchants, banks and taverns of a county seat.
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| Statue of Lincoln in front of David Wills house. |
Four months after the Battle the Gettysburg National Cemetery was dedicated by President Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln's speech lasted only two minutes, but it went into history as the Gettysburg Address.
"Four score 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 battlefield 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 that 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 here dedicated 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 this government of the people. . . by the people. . .for the people. . . shall not perish from the earth. " |
Besides all this history, Gettysburg and Adams county are very scenic. The county is the largest fruit producing and processing area in Pennsylvania. In spring the orchards are in bloom. In summer the area is great for scenic drives along the winding roads. And in autumn you can enjoy the apples on the trees and the beautifull colors of the woods.
More info about tourism in Gettysburg:
http://www.gettysburg.com/ |
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 Comments for tompt about Gettysburg | | | | |
Jehcekah Thu Apr 15, 2004 16:22 UTC
I really enjoyed your Gettsburg page! It is one of my favorite places to visit for its history and scenic beauty and you did a great job of bringing it to VT. | donato1899 Wed Nov 5, 2003 17:23 UTC
That is a nice commentary about Gettysburg. I have been there many times. A person can feel the power of a place where so many died in three days. Re: the dutch salad, it never becomes clear what makes a thing to be named after another country in the USA. | catnl Mon Nov 3, 2003 18:41 UTC
very interesting page about history in this city, and what magnificient buildings! |
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