(NPS)

Visitor Center

The New Gettysburg Museum and Visitor Center

A partnership between the National Park Service and the Gettysburg Foundation, based on the 1999 General Management Plan for Gettysburg National Military Park, has resulted in the construction of a new Museum and Visitor Center located on the Baltimore Pike in Cumberland Township, Adams County. The new building, which opened in April 2008 with a grand opening scheduled for September, orients visitors to the park and Gettysburg, hosts a museum on the Civil War from beginning to dramatic end featuring items from the massive museum collection of Civil War and Gettysburg artifacts, and houses the fully restored Gettysburg Cyclorama. The $135 million dollar project has been funded through generous donations of corporations and individuals alike.

The Cyclorama Center and old Visitor Center on Taneytown Road are now permanently closed. Exhibits and offices in these buildings have been moved to the new Museum and Visitor Center. For additional information on the Gettysburg Foundation and the work this organization is undertaking at Gettysburg, visit the Foundation's web site at  www.gettysburgfoundation.org.

For facts at a glance about the new museum and visitor center as well as other park features, check our "Facts at a Glance" page, The New Visitor Experience at Gettysburg

Visitors in the museum and visitor centerlobby are oriented to the building and program offerings.

Special Programs
A 20 minute film entitled "A New Birth of Freedom" about the Battle of Gettysburg is shown every 30 minutes throughout the day. There is a fee for this film. Volunteers staff the museum gallery and Resource Room throughout the day. Park ranger programs are held just outside of the center during the summer months.

Reservations for a battlefield tour with a Licensed Battlefield Guide are available at the Visitor Center.

Exhibits
The Gettysburg Museum of the Civil War, featuring one of the largest collections of Civil War relics in the world, is available for viewing during regular center hours. Access to the museum is free of charge.

Facilities for Disabled Visitors
The Visitor Center has restrooms accessible from the lobby of the building and museum area, an information service desk and a book store. Handicapped parking available adjacent to the building, which also has provisions for mobility, hearing or sight impaired visitors.

Book Store
The museum and visitor center bookstore is operated by Event Network. For information on holdings and titles, contact the store at (717) 334-2288.

Refreshment Saloon
The center has a refreshment saloon operated by Aramark and offering a selection of snacks, sandwiches, and drinks. For information about the saloon, contact Aramark at (717) 334-5629.

Access to Eisenhower National Historc Site
The shuttle to Eisenhower National Historic Site is located at the Visitor Center. Visitors can purchase their tickets for the shuttle out to the Eisenhower Farm at the ticketing counter.

(Adams Co. Historical Society)

The Wills House, ca. 1890

The David Wills House

Opening in February 2009 as part of Gettysburg National Military Park, the David Wills House in downtown Gettysburg will welcome visitors to the downtown area. The exhibits here will tell the story of a town recovering from the devastation of battle and a war-worn President who came to dedicate a national cemetery. David Wills’ home was the center of the immense clean-up process after the Battle of Gettysburg. In a second-floor bedroom, President Abraham Lincoln put the finishing touches on the Gettysburg Address - the speech transformed Gettysburg from a place of sorrow to the symbol of our nation's new birth of freedom.

The museum will include seven galleries, including the restored office where David Wills coordinated post-battle recovery efforts and invited a President to deliver “a few appropriate remarks,” and the famous Lincoln bedroom where the President finished revising the Gettysburg Address.

Visitors will enter the home through the York Street entrance, which was the original entrance to the building used by the Wills Family.  The Reception Area includes an information desk where visitors may learn more about visiting the Wills House, and other activities and tours in the town of Gettysburg.  An admission fee will be charged for entry into the museum however the Reception area is open without a fee. A small bookstore will offer books and other educational items for sale.

Main Street Gettysburg will operate the museum in cooperation with the National Park Service.