Gettysburg, Pennsylvania - United States of America


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September 13th 2007
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Gettysburg, Pennsylvania - USA


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Gettysburg, Pennsylvania - United States of America

Sep 13, 2007









City official name :Gettysburg
Founded date :
Location :Pennsylvania State
Elavation :? ft (? m)
Area :Approximately ? square miles (? km²).
Facts :Gettysburg is a borough 38 miles (68 km) south by southwest of Harrisburg in Adams County, Pennsylvania, USA, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2000 census, the borough's population was 7,490.

Although known primarily as an attraction due to its proximity to Gettysburg Battlefield, Gettysburg is also known for its institutions of higher learning, namely the Lutheran Theological Seminary, founded in 1826, and Pennsylvania College (now Gettysburg College), which began operating in 1832. Harrisburg Area Community College also has a campus.

Many roads radiate from Gettysburg, providing hub-like access to Baltimore (52 miles/84 kilometers), Harrisburg (38 miles/61kilometers), Carlisle (30 miles/48 kilometers), Frederick and Hagerstown, Maryland (25 and 30 miles, or 40 and 48 kilometers, respectively), and Washington, D.C. (90 miles/145 kilometers). Chambersburg is 25 miles west on the Lincoln Highway (U.S. Route 30), the first transcontinental U.S. highway. Today the borough is a 2½ hour drive from Philadelphia via the Pennsylvania Turnpike and U.S. Route 15. Gettysburg Regional Airport, a small general
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Gettysburg, Pennsylvania - United States of America
aviation airport, is located 2 miles (4 km) west of Gettysburg.

In 1736, the land now comprising the center of Adams County was purchased from the Iroquois by the family of William Penn. At that time, the area was known as Marsh Creek, named for the main tributary. Many of these were Scots-Irish who had emigrated from Ulster. In 1761, A Scots-Irish settler, Samuel Gettys, established a tavern in the area. In 1776, the oldest standing building in Gettysburg, the Dobbin House Tavern, was constructed. In 1786, Gettys' son James laid out a town of 210 lots with a central town square on the land surrounding the tavern. The borough is the county seat of Adams County, which was formed in 1800 from the western section of York County. Gettysburg was incorporated as a borough in 1806. It sits in the shadow of South Mountain, eight miles west of the town, and is framed by Marsh Creek to the west/southwest and Rock Creek to the east/southeast. In 1830, Gettysburg had a population of 1,473. By 1840 it had grown to 1,908. By 1860, the town of Gettysburg had grown to 2,400 citizens. Ten roads lead into the town, creating
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Gettysburg, Pennsylvania - United States of America
a few small but thriving industries and many fertile farms surrounding the towns. Approximately 450 buildings housed carriage manufacturing, shoemakers, and tanneries as well as the usual merchants, banks and taverns. There were also several educational institutions. The population of Gettysburg in 1900 was 3,495; in 1910 it was 4,030 and in 1940 the population was 5,916.

An early history of Adams County stated:

The inhabitants are industrious and enterprising, many of whom are devoted to mechanical pursuits, and particularly to the manufacture of carriages of every description, a branch of business which has been commenced here since 1817.

Civil War and the Battle of Gettysburg
During the Civil War (1861-65), Company K, 1st Pennsylvania Reserves, was made up of men from Gettysburg. This unit was present in the Army of the Potomac during the Battle of Gettysburg, July 1-3, 1863. As nearly 160,000 soldiers descended on the small village, the battle raged all around and through the town, resulting in the death of the only civilian killed in the battle, Jenny Wade. On July 1, the Theological Seminary was the scene of much heavy fighting, and the Seminary buildings—as well as those of Pennsylvania College and
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Gettysburg, Pennsylvania - United States of America
most other public and many private buildings—were used as hospitals. President Abraham Lincoln visited the town in November 1863 to attend the dedication ceremony of the Soldiers' National Cemetery, where he gave his Gettysburg Address.

In the summer of 1913, the 50th anniversary of the battle, 54,000 veterans attended a massive reunion of the Blue and Gray in Gettysburg.

The final reunion of the Blue and Gray to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the battle took place from June 26-July 6, 1938. More than 1,800 veterans were able to attend the reunion, which included the dedication of the Eternal Light Peace Memorial on Oak Hill by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on July 3, 1938. An estimated 250,000 people witnessed the dedication. The memorial still stands today and is a popular tourist attraction.

Dwight D. Eisenhower
During the First World War (1914-18), Gettysburg was the site of Camp Colt, a tank-training camp. The camp's commander was a young captain, Dwight D. Eisenhower. Eisenhower was taken by the bucolic beauty; in 1950 he purchased the John Biesecker farm, just west of the Confederate positions on Seminary Ridge. The farm served as a presidential retreat, the Western White House, and
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Gettysburg, Pennsylvania - United States of America
meeting place for world leaders, including Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, French President Charles De Gaulle, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and then-Governor Ronald Reagan. The National Park Service preserves the Eisenhower farm as Eisenhower National Historic Site.

Gettysburg is a thriving town and rural community with a strong tourism sector. Within the town borough, Gettysburg College is an important element, the college regularly hosts cultural opportunities in the town and has many useful facilities. Numerous orchards, especially apples, are present in the surrounding area and so an annual Apple Blossom Festival as well as the National Apple Harvest Festival are held in nearby Biglerville by an area fruitgrowers association. Gettysburg's primary industry is tourism, as nearly two million visitors arrive each year to visit Gettysburg National Military Park and Eisenhower National Historic Site, both maintained and operated by the National Park Service.





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