Lancaster Civil War Round Table

11/18/2025

Today we removed a post-Civil War staircase inside the Hopkins House, exposing more of the original log walls! A smaller, period-correct stair will be added later. Stay tuned for updates as we transform the site back to the 1860s and work to establish Gettysburg's new Black History museum!

11/18/2025

Not Civil War but it is history and Gettysburg. Thought you’d like to know.

11/17/2025

11/07/2025

Many of the houses on the south side of Gettysburg were used by Confederate sharpshooters to harass Union soldiers on Cemetery Hill, especially officers. The Union men returned musket fire at the Confederates in the windows leaving many homes peppered with pock marks from the bullets. The bullet scarred Farnsworth House is a prime example of the intensity of the rifle fire going both ways. However, there is one house that is outlier from other battle-damaged buildings in town. That is the Jacob Stock house on South Washington Street. The south side of that house was not only peppered with musket ball strikes but was also struck with several artillery rounds completely blowing out a section of the house near the sharpshooters' window. Unfortunately, there are no first-hand accounts of why this is one of the only houses targeted by artillery. Although pure speculation, it may be that the sharpshooters in this location were particularly effective firing on Cemetery Hill. Whatever the reason, the house was struck several times by artillery resulting in the large holes seen in the top photo below. In the modern Google view on the bottom, you see the damage from the artillery was repaired, but the bullet scars remain to this day.

Contributed by Greg Ainsworth

11/03/2025

Pictured here is Gertie Davis, the only known child of abolitionist Harriet Tubman. Believed to have been adopted in 1874, when Tubman was in her 50s and living on a farm in Auburn, New York, Gertie otherwise left a scant historical record. In the 1880 census, Gertie is listed as being four years old, from New York, and the "Ad[opted] Daughter" of Harriet Tubman and Nelson Davis. As an adult, she reportedly married a man with the last name of "Watson," but it's not clear what happened to her after that. But while much of Gertie Davis' life remains a mystery, what we do know provides a fascinating new perspective on the life of her famous mother

(story in cmt)

11/01/2025

10/31/2025

A statue of a Confederate general that demonstrators toppled and burned in D.C. in 2020 has been reinstalled. The U.S. Department of the Interior said the restoration complies with President Donald Trump’s directives. “The restoration aligns with federal responsibilities under historic-preservat...

10/12/2025

As director Bo Brinkman returns to Gettysburg for a new film, the staging of a movie set at the Shriver House brought several days of road closures.