National Preservation Month: Gettysburg visitors on May 11 have rare opportunity to see inside of 4 historic homes that were in the thick of things

The Brian house is a quarter mile north of the Angle (NPS photo)

Next Saturday is your one chance in 2024 to step inside four noteworthy homes on the Gettysburg battlefield as the park participates in National Preservation Month.

The Abraham Brian, Lydia Leister, Jacob Hummelbaugh and Mary Thompson houses will be open for only four hours – on May 11, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., according to Gettysburg National Military Park.

“Doors Open Gettysburg” launched in 2016 and occurred annually through 2019. The Covid-19 pandemic and staffing shortages shut it down after then until this year, park spokesman Jason Martz told the Picket

Park staff will open the “magnificent” structures on that day. The event is free. “The selected buildings range from those newly restored to those in need of repair,” the park said.

Superintendent Kristina Heister said in a news release that the event “highlights the park’s important historic preservation mission and the stories these buildings can tell.”

Here are the pertinent dwellings:

Lydia Leister house is along Taneytown Road (NPS photo)

Lydia Leister house (Meade’s headquarters): Home of the widow Lydia Leister and her children, the two-room structure became the headquarters of the Union Army of the Potomac. Maj. Gen. George G. Meade held his famous “Council of War” here on the evening of July 2, 1863. The artillery bombardment prior to Pickett's Charge on July 3 caused considerable damage to the house. The barn was located in the rear of the center of the Union battle line and used to shelter Union headquarters staff and horses until they moved because of heavy gunfire. It later served as a temporary aid station and field hospital when headquarters was relocated elsewhere. Like the Brian Farm, the biaxial roofing on the residence was recently returned to this historic structure, restoring a character defining feature of one of the most historic buildings on the battlefield. Park in the National Cemetery parking lot or along Hancock Avenue.

A Rebel general died at the Hummelbaugh house in July 1863 (NPS photo)

Jacob Hummelbaugh house: The farm house was for a time occupied by Brig. Gen. Alfred Pleasonton of the Union cavalry as a headquarters during the battle. It was used as a field hospital and rallying point on July 2, 1863. Confederate Brig. Gen. William Barksdale died here the next day and was temporarily buried in the yard. The home will be rehabilitated and stabilized in 2024. Park on Sedgwick or Hancock Avenue. Do not park on Pleasanton Avenue.

Abraham Brian family house: The free black man lived on this 12-acre farm with his wife, Elizabeth, and two children. He purchased the land in 1857, grew wheat, barley and hay, and tended a small apple and peach orchard. Afraid of being captured and sold into slavery, Brian and his family left their home when Confederate troops entered Pennsylvania. Following the battle, they returned to find their home riddled with bullet holes, windows smashed, and furniture thrown about the yard. The crops and orchard were ruined, and their farm fields a graveyard for hastily buried soldiers. Brian repaired his home, replaced his fences, and farmed his land until 1869, when he moved to town and worked at a local hotel. National Park Service preservation experts recently restored the biaxial roof on this historic home. This distinctive roofing style, which had largely vanished by the 20^th century, is also found on the nearby Lydia Leister house. Park on Hancock Avenue and at the National Cemetery parking lot.

Lee's headquarters (Photo: Melissa Winn, American Battlefield Trust)

Mary Thompson house (Lee’s headquarters): Rehabilitated and restored by the American Battlefield Trust, this famous battlefield landmark was used by Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee during the battle. The Thompson home, built in about 1833, was co-owned by U.S. Rep. Thaddeus Stevens. Thompson, about 70, lived across the road from one son (also part of the Trust property); seven other children lived elsewhere. Trust employees will be on hand for the day. Park in the designated lot at the Mary Thompson house.

Mary Thompson may be figure at right in post-battle photo (Library of Congress)

The buildings are not wheelchair accessible. No tickets or reservations are necessary for “Doors Open Gettysburg.”

Martz says staffing issues preclude the four homes from being open all year. “In order to open any of these buildings we must have staff on-hand to ensure the resources are protected.”

Also on May 11, the David Wills House will open for the season, according to the park.

David Wills house: The home of Gettysburg attorney David Wills was the center of the immense cleanup process after the Battle of Gettysburg and where President Lincoln put the finishing touches on his Gettysburg Address. The museum features six galleries, including two rooms that have been restored to their 1863 appearance: The home features Wills' office, where he planned for a Soldiers' National Cemetery after the battle; and the bedroom where Lincoln stayed and prepared the Gettysburg Address.

Admission to the David Wills house, 8 Lincoln Square, Gettysburg, Pa., is free. Open Friday-Sunday, 11 am to 4 pm.

If you can’t make it to Gettysburg, you can take virtual tours of the Leister, Wills and Brian homes here.