Visitors to the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum & Visitor Center can add the George Spangler Farm & Field Hospital to their itinerary throughout the 2024 summer season. The meticulously restored and rehabilitated historic site will be open for visitors to explore Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, from 10 a.m. until 3:20 p.m. beginning Friday, June 7, 2024. The historic site is open for the summer season through Sunday, Aug. 11, 2024.
Visitors to the George Spangler Farm & Field Hospital will have opportunities to see Civil War era encampments, interact with living historians to learn about Civil War medicine and the role of surgeons and caregivers, hear stories of soldiers’ experiences, the humanity of citizens and the Spangler family, and discover the role of civilians during and after the Battle of Gettysburg. Docents will be available on-site to greet visitors and answer questions. Living historians from across the U.S., who provide guests a glimpse of what happened here in 1863, encamp on-site throughout the summer on weekends.
June 2024: Friday, Saturday & Sunday Programming
11:15 – 11:45 a.m. The Spangler Farm in 1863
2:00 – 2:45 p.m. An Army Field Hospital: The George Spangler Farm
Sunday Special Programming
Historic Gettysburg-Adams County (HGAC) will be on-site each Sunday. HGAC interprets the design, construction and use of the stunning expression of an iconic, vernacular architectural form—the Pennsylvania Bank Barn. Representatives of HGAC will discuss the restoration of the George Spangler Farm in the past decade—from a dilapidated structure in danger of collapse to a visage of its original glory, which revived this important, tangible component of American history.
June 2024 Living History Schedule
June 7-9:
Civil War Historical Impressions: See Union and Confederate soldiers, Gettysburg civilians, generals and surgeons. A Confederate field hospital includes a portrayal of surgeon Hunter McGuire. Guests can walk through the encampments on the grounds of the historic site, interact with living historians and experience history come alive.
June 14-16:
Blue & Gray Hospital Association: Civil War living history and educational organization teaches the public about Civil War medicine and the roles of caregivers, medical staff, orderlies and ambulance corpsmen, as well as the civilian nurses and field relief.
The Healing: Conversations Between Nurses North and South: A unique and moving portrayal of women who pioneered professional nursing and served during the American Civil War. True accounts based on diaries and first-person references reflect the profound impact these Civil War nurses had on the soldiers they treated that went beyond the battles and the war.
June 21-23:
The W. S. Hancock Society (21&22): The historical interpretive branch of the W.S. Hancock Society is a non-profit, historical preservation and educational organization based in the Norristown, Pennsylvania, region and takes its name from Major General Winfield Scott Hancock, who commanded the Union Army’s Second Corps at the Battle of Gettysburg. These historical interpreters provide educational programming on various aspects of the American Civil War and the history and life of Maj. Gen. Hancock. The group will present the artillery’s significant role on the battlefield, through a “non-firing” interpretive living history program. They will discuss the workings of the “field artillery,” its devastating firepower, how it was used in support of the infantry and how it served as a deterrent to an attacker in the defense of a strategic position that made it “The Masters of the Battlefield.”
Patriot Daughters of Lancaster: Ladies’ aid society from Lancaster, formed after the firing on Fort Sumter, to provide money, food, clothing, bandages and supplies for soldiers serving in local companies of Pennsylvania regiments. The ladies cared for the wounded at Christ Lutheran Church and the Lutheran Seminary in Gettysburg and held sanitary fairs and bazaars to raise money.
4th Texas Company B Infantry: Civil War reenacting group based in Southeastern Pennsylvania and a member unit of the First Battalion of the First Division of the Army of Northern Virginia, an organization for Confederate reenacting units in the eastern U.S. Company B Infantry’s mission is to uphold the memory of Texas soldiers in the Civil War and their families by accurately portraying southern soldiers and civilians, to educate the public about the common Civil War soldier’s life and ideals, and to promote preservation of Civil War battlefields and historic sites.
June 28-30:
Civil War Historical Impressions: See Union and Confederate soldiers, Gettysburg civilians, generals and surgeons. A Confederate field hospital includes a portrayal of surgeon Hunter McGuire. Guests can walk through the encampments on the grounds of the historic site, interact with living historians and experience history come alive.
Madam Lauer Fashionable Dressmaker: A Civil War reenactor for 26 years portrays a dressmaker in her endeavor to educate the public on several facets of life during the Civil War that are not typically found in school textbooks. A member of the 150th PA Bucktails, Jan attends re-enactments and living histories traveling throughout Pennsylvania, New York and Ohio, and has lectured in towns throughout Pennsylvania, including Indiana, State College, Titusville and Gettysburg.
The living history schedules for July and August will be released in the coming months.
Shuttles and admission to the historic site is included with the purchase of a Film, Cyclorama & Museum Experience ticket at the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum & Visitor Center. Visitors also have the option to purchase single shuttle and admission tickets for the George Spangler Farm & Field Hospital. Friends of Gettysburg members receive complimentary shuttle and admission tickets to the historic site during summer weekends, Friday through Sunday.
Shuttles depart the Museum & Visitor Center Friday through Sunday every 20 minutes starting at 10 a.m., with the last shuttle departing the Museum & Visitor Center at 1:40 p.m. The last returning shuttle to the Museum & Visitor Center departs the George Spangler Farm & Field Hospital at 3:20 p.m. For shuttle and admission tickets, call the Gettysburg Foundation’s Guest Relations team at 877-874-2478 or 717-334-2436 or visit GettysburgFoundation.org.
GEORGE SPANGLER FARM & FIELD HOSPITAL
A successful family farm before and after the Battle of Gettysburg, the historic George Spangler Farm served as the Union Army’s 11th Corps field hospital where more than 1,900 wounded soldiers—both Union and Confederate—received care. The site also served as an artillery reserve, ammunition reserve, provost guard and a temporary cemetery for both Union and Confederate soldiers. Located at 488 Blacksmith Shop Road, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, the meticulously rehabilitated historic site features restored and renovated, original buildings from the battle. Today, the historic site stands as the best-preserved field hospital from the American Civil War. The Gettysburg Foundation owns, operates and maintains the historical integrity of the original buildings and property of this historic site. The historic site is also home to The Kinsley Leadership Center and the Gettysburg Foundation’s headquarters for its Higher Ground Leadership at Gettysburg programming.
GETTYSBURG FOUNDATION
The Gettysburg Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit philanthropic, educational organization operating in partnership with the National Park Service to preserve Gettysburg National Military Park and Eisenhower National Historic Site and educate the public about their significance. The Foundation operates the Museum & Visitor Center at Gettysburg National Military Park, as well as the George Spangler Farm & Field Hospital, the Children of Gettysburg 1863® and Ticket to the Past – Unforgettable Journeys. The Foundation offers customized professional leadership development on the Gettysburg battlefield through its Higher Ground Leadership at Gettysburg programming. For information about visiting Gettysburg or how you can become a Friends of Gettysburg member or make a donation in support of the Gettysburg Foundation’s preservation and education mission in partnership with the National Park Service at Gettysburg, visit GettysburgFoundation.org or call 877-874-2478. Proceeds from tickets and other purchases in the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum & Visitor Center benefit Gettysburg National Military Park and Eisenhower National Historic Site.