The Brian house is a quarter mile north of the Angle (NPS photo) |
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) |
A Rebel general died at the Hummelbaugh house in July 1863 (NPS photo) |
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 20th 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 may be figure at right in post-battle photo (Library of Congress) |
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.
No comments:
Post a Comment