"My Family's Home" a Gettysburg Travel Page by PA2AKgirl

This page is going be under continuous construction as I make frequent trips to this area and realized that all of our pictures and many of my memories or recolllections are from many years ago. I am trying to recify that and come up with a decent travel page.

A lot has changed in this town since I was a child and to hear my father and his brothers tell it, certainly since they were little and growing up here. Much more caters to tourists and there is constant rennovation on the battlefield to get it back to the way it looked in the 1860s, during the time of the civil war. Here I find myself conflicted. Having worked for the United States Park Service, I understand the mission: the importance of preseving sites for future generations to enjoy and learn about culture and history. But the battlefield looks stripped now...the trees made it aethestically pleasing, but I suppose that's not the point of The Battle at Gettysburg, now is it?

Still, the difference brought to my attention the need to build a page on Gettysburg...for the history of the US as well as the history of my family.

Battlefield Royalty...that's what VT member Vivalasteph called it and it keeps making me laugh, so I have to use it on here...I know she's gonna check this page out, so I hope she's not upset I "borrowed" her coined phrase!

It's not that at all, but my if my family has history in the US, here is where is it. My grandparents came here from Northern Ireland, spent some time briefly in the Philly area and then made their way to Gettysburg. My grandfather is buried in the National Cemetery and my other grandparents are in the Evergreen, which borders the National. Moving on...my grandfather on my mother's side was well known in this town. For those of you who have visited, he built the 1st electric map...one of the highlights and most informative sites in Gettysburg (will be under a "Must See Activity tip") He was also an artist--designed the county seal and many hand drawn maps of the area...as well as a sign painter. My grandmother worked in the Civil War museum until she was 80.

My parents met here when they were in elementary school, married here, had some of their children here. I still have a lot of family in this town too--it's just somewhat strange to think that my every generation of my family, since coming to the US, has lived here at some point.