The
Gettysburg National Military Park (GNMP) is an administrative unit of the
National Park ServiceThe National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
's northeast region and a subunit of federal properties of
Adams CountyAdams County is a county in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 census, the population was 101,407. It was created on January 22, 1800, from part of York County and named in honor of the second President of the United States, John Adams...
,
PennsylvaniaThe Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, with the same name, including the
Gettysburg National CemeteryThe Gettysburg National Cemetery is located on Cemetery Hill in the Gettysburg Battlefield near the borough of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania and adjacent to Evergreen Cemetery to the south...
. The GNMP properties include most of the
Gettysburg BattlefieldThe Gettysburg Battlefield is the area of the July 1–3, 1863, military engagements of the Battle of Gettysburg within and around the borough of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Locations of military engagements extend from the 4 acre site of the first shot & at on the west of the borough, to East...
, many of the battle's support areas during the battle (e.g., reserve, supply, & hospital locations), and several other non-battle areas associated with the battle's "aftermath and commemoration". The administrative unit also manages the adjacent
Eisenhower National Historic SiteEisenhower National Historic Site was the home and farm of General and President of the United States Dwight D. Eisenhower and Mamie Doud Eisenhower. Located adjacent to the Gettysburg Battlefield in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, the farm served as a weekend retreat for the President and a meeting...
subunit and displays a portion of their 43,000
American Civil WarThe American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
artifacts in the
Gettysburg Museum and Visitor CenterThe Gettysburg Museum and Visitor Center is the Gettysburg National Military Park facility which displays the 1884 Gettysburg Cyclorama and provides the tour center for Licensed Battlefield Guides and buses to the Gettysburg Battlefield and Eisenhower National Historic Site. The museum displays...
.
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=jiNaAAAAIBAJ&sjid=4EsNAAAAIBAJ&pg=1331,4924500&dq=civil-war-preservation-trust+gettysburg&hl=en
The park has more wooded land than in 1863, and the National Park Service has an ongoing program to restore portions of the battlefield to their historical non-wooded conditions, as well as to replant historic orchards and woodlots that are now missing. In addition, the NPS is restoring native plants to meadows and edges of roads, to encourage habitat as well as provide for historic landscape. There are also considerably more roads and facilities for the benefit of tourists visiting the battlefield park.
In 1915, the "National Park Commission" tested the battlefield guides and, due to the limited knowledge (particularly of the most experienced, e.g., only 1 in 8 could name the 7 avenues), established a school for licensing tour guides to charge fees.
Federal land acquisition
The 1864 Gettysburg Battlefield Memorial Association and later veteran's associations acquired land for memorials and preservation (e.g., the
72nd Pennsylvania Infantry Monument"72nd Pennsylvania Infantry Monument" is the name of 2 American Civil War monuments on the Gettysburg Battlefield: and a larger 1891 statuary memorial...
tract with the statuary memorial depicted on the 2011 America the Beautiful Quarter dollar). Federal acquisition of land that would become the 1895 national park began on June 7, 1893, with 9 monument tracts of 625 sq ft (58.1 m²) each and a larger 10th lot of 1.2 acre (4,856.2 m²) from the Association, as well as 0.275 acre (1,112.9 m²) from
Samuel M Bushman. In addition to land purchases, federal
eminent domainEminent domain , compulsory purchase , resumption/compulsory acquisition , or expropriation is an action of the state to seize a citizen's private property, expropriate property, or seize a citizen's rights in property with due monetary compensation, but without the owner's consent...
takings include the
Gettysburg Electric RailwayThe Gettysburg Electric Railway was a borough trolley that provided summer access to Gettysburg Battlefield visitor attractions such as military engagement areas, monuments, postbellum camps, and recreation areas...
right-of-ways in 1917 (
cf.cf., an abbreviation for the Latin word confer , literally meaning "bring together", is used to refer to other material or ideas which may provide similar or different information or arguments. It is mainly used in scholarly contexts, such as in academic or legal texts...
1896
United States v. Gettysburg Electric Ry. Co.United States v. Gettysburg Electric Ry. Co. was a case to prevent trolley operations on the Gettysburg Battlefield. The dispute began in August 1891 when the Gettysburg Battlefield Memorial Association's board approved attorney motion to deny trolley right-of-way along GBMA roads...
). Donated land included 160 acres from the 1959
Gettysburg Battlefield Preservation Association and 264 acres from the
W. Alton Jones FoundationThe W. Alton Jones Foundation was a charitable foundation, and a sponsor of environmental causes. It was originally involved in sponsoring the arts, particularly theatre....
. The Gettysburg Foundation "is a private, nonprofit educational organization working in partnership with the National Park Service to enhance the preservation and understanding of the heritage and lasting significance of Gettysburg" (e.g., the Foundation leased a facility in 1999 for NPS use to rehabilitate cannon-carriages.) In February 2009,
The David Wills House where Lincoln completed his
Gettysburg AddressThe Gettysburg Address is a speech by U.S. President Abraham Lincoln and is one of the most well-known speeches in United States history. It was delivered by Lincoln during the American Civil War, on the afternoon of Thursday, November 19, 1863, at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery...
was added to the national park by
Public Law 106-290 of October 10, 2000 and is operated by
Main Street Gettysburg.
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CRPT-111srpt330/html/CRPT-111srpt330.htm In 2010, an effort to expand the amount of the federally-owned GNMP land failed in Congress.
Memorials and remembrance
The Park has been highly symbolic venue for memorials and remembrance. On November 19, 1963 a parade was held in Gettysburg] commemorating of President Lincoln's
Gettysburg AddressThe Gettysburg Address is a speech by U.S. President Abraham Lincoln and is one of the most well-known speeches in United States history. It was delivered by Lincoln during the American Civil War, on the afternoon of Thursday, November 19, 1863, at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery...
given six months after the
Battle of GettysburgThe Battle of Gettysburg , was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The battle with the largest number of casualties in the American Civil War, it is often described as the war's turning point. Union Maj. Gen. George Gordon Meade's Army of the Potomac...
. The motorcade parade followed the same route that President Lincoln and Gov.
Andrew G. CurtinAndrew Gregg Curtin was a U.S. lawyer and politician. He served as the Governor of Pennsylvania during the Civil War.-Biography:...
took 100 years before. Former President
Dwight D. EisenhowerDwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
--who lived nearby—was there accompanied by Gov. William W. Scranton. The attendance at the 1963 commemoration was lower than the 20,000 to 30,000 persons who attended the original address by President Lincoln in 1863. Thousands of photographers attended the 1963 event while U.S. Airforce jets passed overhead. Also attending the event were the 28th Division of the Pennsylvania National Guard headed by Maj. Gen. Henry F. Fluck, the U.S. Marine Band, and the 3rd Infantry of the U.S. Army. The parade ended at the rear entrance into the
Gettysburg National CemeteryThe Gettysburg National Cemetery is located on Cemetery Hill in the Gettysburg Battlefield near the borough of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania and adjacent to Evergreen Cemetery to the south...
.