Local History

Nearly everybody is familiar with the legend of the young George Washington chopping down a cherry tree and then confessing to his father because he “cannot tell a lie.” A similar event happened to the young Thaddeus Stevens, but it involved chopping a cow. Stevens was dealt a bad hand as a child in the

Walking tours of Gettysburg’s only Underground Railroad (UGRR) Site recognized by the National Park Service’s Network to Freedom will begin on Saturday, May 3, and everyone is invited to attend. Our tour guides this year will be Bernie Mazer, Deb Novotny, Keith Schultz, and Curt Musselman, who will share the privilege of showing you around

Historic Gettysburg-Adams County (HGAC) celebrated its 50th anniversary on Saturday, April 5, 2025, by dedicating a hand-carved datestone outside its headquarters at 53 East Middle Street in Gettysburg. The datestone project began in August 2024 when Stable Hollow Construction of Manheim, PA, generously proposed the gift in honor of the milestone. The stone was crafted

The Thaddeus Stevens Museum is expanding into the storefront next door at 52 Chambersburg Street, and the grand opening is on April 5 at 5 p.m. All are invited. The new space, called the Annex, will feature an expanded research area, tourist information, more exhibits about Stevens and the Thaddeus Stevens Society, and Civil War

The Gettysburg Heritage Center is thrilled to announce the return of “Reenactor Recruitment Day” on Saturday, March 15, from 12:00 PM to 4:00 PM. Following the success of last year’s inaugural event, this second annual gathering promises to be even more exciting for history enthusiasts and those interested in joining a reenactment group. While many groups represent the

A capacity crowd gathered Sunday afternoon in the Lutheran Seminary’s Valentine Hall for a presentation of a video documentary and panel discussion on “The Underground Railroad in South Central Pennsylvania.” The program was sponsored by Pathways to Racial Justice and featured a video in the Keystone Oral Histories project by former teacher Bryan Wade. The

One of the more unusual aspects of Thaddeus Stevens’s political career is his association with the Anti-Masonic Party. While he represented the Gettysburg area in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in the 1830s, Stevens was a major figure in the party, got an Anti-Masonic governor elected, and even held hearings about the Masons. The Anti-Masonic

The Lincoln Cemetery Project Association and the Gettysburg National Military Park (GNMP) united on Saturday to host two historical persons; Fredrick Douglass and Captain John Brown. The sold-out event, held at the GNMP Visitors Center as part of the 2025 Winter Lecture Series, was an unforgettable experience, bringing history to life through an engaging portrayal

Thaddeus Stevens was riding high in the early 1820s. He was a young up-and-coming lawyer in the prosperous town of Gettysburg. Then he took a case involving a fugitive slave that would change his life and the course of American history forever. Born in Vermont, the first state to ban slavery in 1777, it would

Contributed by the Dwight D. Eisenhower Society Throughout the 20th century, railroad passenger cars crisscrossed the United States by the tens of thousands, transporting Americans in wartime, peacetime, and sometimes providing the backdrop for other historical events.  One passenger car was “the room where it happened” for a virtually unknown meeting with critical ramifications as

Gettysburg borough recently published a summary of its budget and at the top of the page were pictures of Abraham Lincoln and Dwight Eisenhower. Where was Thaddeus Stevens?  He should be part of the Gettysburg Trinity. Gettysburg is fortunate that it can lay claim to two presidents. But it should also lay claim to Thaddeus

The steering commission for Adams County’s commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the United States is hosting a meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025, to bring residents and business owners across the county up to date on local plans as well as invite members of the community to get involved. Commonly known as “America 250,” this

By 1816, Thaddeus Stevens had graduated from Dartmouth college, completed his legal studies and gotten a certificate to practice law. He was ready to make his mark, but where? Stevens did a little location shopping. He first went east from York, where had lived for two years, to Lancaster to check out that city. On

The following is the schedule for the Seminary Museum’s “Gettysburg Address 161st Anniversary on the Ridge.” Friday, November 15 6:30 p.m. “The Business of Death in the Mid-19th Century” (History Happy Hour by Annette Jorgensen, SRMEC Membership and Development Coordinator) Death in the 19th century was a relatively common occurrence. Illnesses and accidents that we

More than 160 years after President Abraham Lincoln delivered his immortal address, the Gettysburg community will come together this year to mark the historic occasion with special events throughout November. In Gettysburg, Nov. 19 is known as Dedication Day, the date when Lincoln came to Gettysburg in 1863 for the dedication of a new national

On November 1 and 2, Seminary Ridge Museum and Education Center (SRMEC) will again host “24 Hours on the Ridge,” conceived in 2021 as a fundraising event to be held in conjunction with the annual Adams County Community Foundation Giving Spree, which supports non-profit organizations throughout Adams County, Pennsylvania. Rather than closing at 5:00 p.m.

Thaddeus Stevens was born in the small Vermont town of Danville in 1792, the last year of the first term of George Washington. He had a lot going against him. His family was poor, he was born with a clubfoot — a handicap that was seen as a mark of the devil — and his father

Join the Dwight D. Eisenhower Society at its annual picnic at the Eisenhower National Historic Site on Saturday, July 20, 2024.  Our picnic theme is Ike and Mamie in Paris with a nod to the Olympics set to begin in Paris the following weekend.  Tours of the Eisenhower Home, a putting contest on the Eisenhower

Of all Thaddeus Stevens’s abilities, his talent as a lawyer was his greatest. In a June 28, 1885 article in the Baltimore American, a person who knew him said this: “Mr. Stevens was regarded by many people with an air of superstition. His legal knowledge was so profound and his foresight so keen, that he

The Lincoln Cemetery Association will hold a Memorial Day Program on Sunday May 26 starting at 1:45 p.m. This program has been a long-time tradition for Lincoln Cemetery but has not been held recently .  The cemetery is located at the corner of Lincoln and Long Lane. Parking is available at the rec park parking

On Wednesday, May 15, Miranda Wisor, Executive Director of Adams County Library, presented Andrew Dalton, Executive Director of the Adams County Historical Society, with the original deed to 59 East High Street, Gettysburg. According to the historical record, Adams County was established on January 22, 1800, and Gettysburg was named the county seat. As part

The 14th Amendment to the Constitution is one of the greatest achievements of the Reconstruction era and the essential person in its birth was Thaddeus Stevens, the most powerful congressman of his time. The amendment has been at the heart of many landmark court cases, including desegregation, same sex marriage, and reproductive rights. Now the

Our hometown took a large step to solidify its position as a leading center of World War II studies and commemoration with a major conference on the Battle of the Bulge, held at the World War II American Experience Museum in Gettysburg on Jan. 27. The conference was sponsored by the Battle of the Bulge

Nominations for Destination Gettysburg’s eighth annual “Jim Getty Spirit of Gettysburg Award” are now open, and members of the community are encouraged to submit names of individuals in the tourism industry that exemplify dedication and contribution to the Adams County tourism industry. The award was established in 2016 in recognition of Jim Getty, an Abraham

In his 1939 biography about Thaddeus Stevens, Alphonse B. Miller wrote this:  “It is an ironic commentary on fame that in so short a time as seventy years, Thaddeus Stevens has become little more than a name even to well-educated Americans. In his lifetime, which reached its climax during a major crisis in American affairs,

When Adams County resident Charles Walmer learned he had polycystic kidney disease, he received a kidney transplant in 2009 after waiting about 4 years. It took place at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore. Charles also made sure that his three adult children tested for this hereditary disease. His son Bill was the

The Thaddeus Stevens Society is launching a fundraising effort to create a Gettysburg museum for one of its most important historic personalities. To raise this money, the Society is participating in the Giving Spree, held by the Adams County Community Foundation, that will occur on November 9 at Gettysburg Middle School from 3 to 7

Jill Ogline Titus, deputy director of the Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College and the author of Gettysburg 1963: Civil Rights, Cold War Politics, and Historical Memory in America’s Most Famous Small Town, spoke at the Lutheran Seminary’s Valentine Hall on “A New Birth of Freedom? Civil Rights and Black History in 20th Century Gettysburg.”

Two new actions in the last week recognized the importance of Thaddeus Stevens to Gettysburg:  a Stevens display in the Gettysburg borough building and the installation of “Stevens Run” signs on Constitution Avenue. The newly arranged display is outside the mayor’s office in the borough building and consists of a bust of Stevens on a small oak table

One of the great ironies of American history is that President James Buchanan, a defender of slavery, lived in the same city of Lancaster, PA, as Thaddeus Stevens, a relentless foe of the infernal institution. This stark contrast was highlighted in a new book, American Ramble: A Walk of Memory and Renewal, by Neil King, a

After almost 20 years of visiting and surveying historic barns, a team of volunteers from the Historic Gettysburg Adams County Barn Preservation Project recently added the 400th barn to the HGAC register of historic Adams County Barns.  Barn owners Wayne and Leila Flickinger and their daughters, Alayna and Sarah, welcomed the barn surveyors to their