The Lutheran Seminary
Confederate Avenue

The Seminary is situated on the crest of Seminary Ridge and the spire of the Seminary chapel is visible for many miles. The Church of the Abiding Presence was built during 1942; however, the Seminary was founded in1826. In 1832, the Seminary moved from the center of town and has become the oldest continuing Lutheran seminary in America.

Old Dorm is the original campus building and was completed in the summer of 1832. It contained two lecture rooms, a library, an assembly room, and dormitory space for the campus steward and the students. During the Battle of Gettysburg, the cupola on Old Dorm served first as the lookout for the Union, second as the signal station for the Confederates, and finally as a hospital for both armies. Today it contains an historical museum. (See Adams County Historical Society.)

Samuel Simon Schmucker founded the Seminary and Gettysburg College to train American clergy. A Lutheran anti-slavery activist, he was active in the Underground Railroad and assisted fugitive slaves by hiding them in his barn and home. In 1837, Schmucker encouraged Daniel Alexander Payne, the first African-American to be educated in a Lutheran seminary. Payne went on to become a bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal Church and later served as president of Wilberforce University.

Gettysburg College
Carlisle Street

Founded in 1832 by Samuel Simon Schmucker as the Pennsylvania College on West High Street, Gettysburg College moved to the Carlisle Street campus in 1837 and began holding classes in Pennsylvania Hall, which now houses administrative offices.

On June 17, 1863, sixty-one students left classes and volunteered for service in the 26th Pennsylvania Emergency Volunteer Regiment. On the morning of July 1, the College took a role in the battle. Shortly after the dismissal of classes, Pennsylvania Hall began service as a hospital for the wounded of both sides. More than 600 Confederate casualties were treated inside the building. Relieved hospital duties in mid August, the College was able to reopen for the fall term.

Gettysburg College Civil War Institute

233 North Washington Street, Gettysburg
717-337-6590
Fax: 717-337-6596

Eisenhower National Historic Site
250 Eisenhower Farm Lane 7 17-338-9114

This site is the preserved home of the 34th President of the United States, Dwight D. Eisenhower. Eisenhower had been stationed with his first command in Gettysburg at Camp Colt during WWI and had been impressed at the support the town had given his unit during a serious flu epidemic. When he retired from the military, Ike and Mamie decided to locate in Gettysburg and purchased the farm in 1950. As President, Ike spent a great deal of time at the farm using it as both a retreat and a working base. Their home has been preserved as a time capsule with the original Eisenhower furnishings.

The site is open only to guided bus tours. Tickets are available at the National Park Service Visitor Center on Steinwehr Avenue. Open daily April through October, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (Closed on Monday and Tuesday November through March.).

The Adams County Historical Society
Old Dorm at the Lutheran Seminary,
Confederate Avenue 717-334-4723

For more information, write The Society at Box 4325, Gettysburg, PA 17325. The Society offers primary and secondary resource material for researching county history. Open Wednesday and Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Guided tours of the Schmucker Hall museum are available Wednesday and Saturday at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., or by appointment.

Gettysburg Convention & Visitors Bureau
35 Carlisle Street 717-334-6274

Adams County's Official Information Center is located in the Historic Gettysburg Lincoln Railroad Station. Built in 1858, the railroad station and its telegraph line linked Gettysburg to the rest of the nation. The station is undergoing preservation as the home of the Gettysburg Convention & Visitor’s Center.

The Gettysburg Travel Council offers free tour brochures and maps. The Downtown Historic Walking tour is highly recommended. The Scenic Valley Tour is a 36-mile drive through one of America's most scenic counties. The entire route is clearly marked with Scenic Valley Tour signs. (Approximate driving time is 2 hours).

The Historic Conewago Tour passes by East Cavalry Battlefield, working farms, several county churches, and through the center of Victorian New Oxford and Early-American East Berlin, as well as several other small villages, and the very scenic Adams County countryside. (Approximate driving time is 2 hours).

The Gettysburg Railroad
106 North Washington Street 717-334-6932

The Gettysburg and Harrisburg Railroad built the Washington Street Depot in 1884. Today, the Gettysburg Railroad presents a 16-mile steam engine journey through natural and historic countryside onboard a 19th century train powered by huge steam locomotives. The 45-minute ride from Gettysburg to Biglerville in northern Adams County passes through Goldenville and crosses a trestle at Conewago Creek.

For the 50-mile ride, the train continues into the orchards and woods of northern Adams County to the small town of Aspers, then up South Mountain. The engine pulls the train up the grade and winds through curves as it passes through Peach Glen and the village of Starners (545 feet higher than Gettysburg). Down the mountain through the hamlets of Goodyear, Hunter's Run and Upper Mills, the train comes to its destination of Mount Holly Springs. The Holly Inn, built in 1794, is an excellent stop for lunch or dinner before returning.

Open April through December.

Adams County Winery
Route 30 West 717-334-4631

The winery is located ten miles west of Gettysburg on Route 30. The farm run winery features a bank barn tasting room stocked with Pennsylvania wines. The grounds are a great place to stop for a picnic lunch.

Tours are available. Open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Ski Liberty
Carroll Valley 717-642-8282

Seasonal skiing is available on the slopes at Ski Liberty in the Carroll Valley 8 miles southwest of Gettysburg on Route 116. Several golf courses are located near the resort.

Strawberry Hill Nature Center and Preserve
Fairfield, PA 717-642-5840

Strawberry Hill offers a variety of environmental and historical programs for all ages. A self-guided trail map is available at the center. Trails and grounds are open dawn to dusk daily year round free of charge.

Nature Center hours are Tuesday through Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

http://www.strawberryhill.org/