Gettysburg National Military Park - The Conservation Fund

It was a turning point in the war and the Civil War’s bloodiest battle, claiming 51,000 lives. The Union soldiers whose blood stained the rural Pennsylvania fields were immortalized in President Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address for their “last full measure of devotion.” Every year, 1.5 million visitors visit Gettysburg’s hallowed ground, which is administered by the National Park Service (NPS).

OUR ROLE

We have worked with NPS for more than 20 years to acquire key parcels for the National Military Park, most recently the historic Harman Farm, where much of the first day of the battle was fought. NPS had long sought to acquire the property and in 2011, with the support of Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation and funds from the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund, we helped NPS buy the property from the former Gettysburg Country Club. Now, instead of hosting a nine-hole golf course, this hallowed ground will be restored to its historic 1863 setting.

WHY THIS PROJECT MATTERS

Even though it marks a pivotal moment in U.S. history, not all of the land where the battle of Gettysburg was fought has been protected. Some parcels have been lost forever to development. Thanks to our Battlefield Revolving Fund established with grants from the Gilder Foundation, we have been able to acquire and donate important sites to the park, including:

28 acres on East Cavalry Field (in partnership with Adams County);
23 acres of the Blocher Farm at the base of Barlow’s Knoll;
A historic private property adjacent to the park along the Baltimore Pike;
The last privately held commercial land in Gettysburg National Military Park, a former motel located in the area of Pickett’s Charge;
A nine-acre inholding in the park that was the site of the action at Devil’s Den, where there were intense attacks and counterattacks on the second day of the battle; and
The 100-acre Harmon Farmstead that hosted much of the bloody Day 1 battle; formerly operated as a 9-hole golf course.

We also assisted the Richard King Mellon Foundation in acquiring and donating to the park two key parcels totaling 313 acres.

LEARN MORE

Gettysburg National Military Park

Gettysburg Battlefield National Military Park. Photo by Mary Harrsch/Flickr AT A GLANCE

AT A GLANCE

Efforts to preserve the Gettysburg battlefield began almost immediately after the battle, but it wasn’t until 1895 that Gettysburg National Military Park was established.
More than 150 years after the battle’s end, not all of the significant lands at Gettysburg have been protected. The Conservation Fund has worked with the National Park Service for more than two decades to acquire more historic parcels to help NPS tell Gettysburg’s story.
Over the past two decades, The Conservation Fund and its partners have protected nine sites—totaling more than 500 acres—at Gettysburg.

PROJECT EXPERTS

Kyle Shenk
State Director, Pennsylvania and Regional Director, Northeast Region, Conservation Acquisition

PROJECT PROGRAMS

Conservation Acquisition