Located in the southern central region of Pennsylvania Gettysburg PA is an easy drive from areas like Philadephia, New York City, Washington DC, Baltimore, and Pittsburg. It's chief attractions include Gettysburg National Military Park and Soldiers' National Cemetery. Both parks and the surrounding town are a rich blend of historical preservation and inspiring works of art. Artists of any kind have got to make this a bucket list trip. The art here is the type of art that can only be born from such an epic clash of opposing wills. It's inspiring and unique like nothing you've ever seen before. Gettysburg was a simple farming town when it accidentally became the epicenter of the bloodiest battle of the Civil War. General Robert E. Lee had marched his Army of Northern Virginia into Pennsylvania in late June of 1863 with his sights set on winning the war. General George G. Meade and the Union's Army of the Potomac met Lee at the crossroads town of Gettysburg and the three-day Battle of Gettysburg began, July 1, 1863. In that three day period the Confererate and Union armies amassed a casualty toll of over 45,000. "The Battle of Gettysburg was a turning point in the Civil War, the Union victory that ended General Robert E. Lee's second and most ambitious invasion of the North. Often referred to as the "High Water Mark of the Rebellion", Gettysburg was the Civil War's bloodiest battle and was also the inspiration for President Abraham Lincoln's immortal "Gettysburg Address"." - Excerpt from the NPS website.
In 1864, a group of concerned citizens established the Gettysburg Battlefield Memorial Association to preserve portions of the battlefield as a memorial. They transferred their land holdings to the Federal government in 1895 and that same year Gettysburg National Military Park was established. Originally a federally-appointed commission of Civil War veterans oversaw the park's development as a memorial to both armies by identifying and marking the lines of battle. Then in 1933 administration of the park was transferred to the Department of the Interior's National Park Service who maintains it to this day.
Bring good shoes and give yourself plenty of time to explore because there is plenty to see on 6,000 acres of land with more than 1,300 monuments, 400 cannons, 31 miles of historic avenues, and 147 historic buildings.
Find more photography from this trip in my Gettysburg Collection at the Gift Shop Blog readers can enjoy special savings on one Gettysburg print: Worm Fence in Gettysburg Canvas Print Offer expired until December 23, 2020 at 5:00pm Learn more about the history of this park on their National Park Service Website
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Amelia PearnExploring photography has been a life long passion. Photography BlogArchives
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