- Joined
- Feb 23, 2013
- Location
- East Texas
Part I - The Gettysburg Battlefield
Since I've been anticipating this September's CWT Reunion in Gettysburg, my thoughts have been returning to my very first visits to the town and park. This was back in the summers of 1961 and 1964 during the Civil War Centennial; the first time was with my mother who drove all the way from Dallas, Texas there and back (pre-Interstate!) on the occasion of the July reenactment of First Manassas which we attended as spectators. Three years later in the August following our graduation from high school and before beginning our freshman year in college my friend Mike and I borrowed my father's Pontiac station wagon (remember those?) and duplicated the journey, but this time taking three instead of two weeks to do it. Of course the highlight of both trips - the reenactment in beastly 100 degree weather notwithstanding - was Gettysburg!
This three-page leaflet was at the time the National Park Service's Gettysburg tour folder; note on the map there was NO visitor center in 1961, plus the location of the Cyclorama! I never even saw the park office/museum which was apparently located in the old post office - instead, visitors were supposed to stop at one of the five stone ranger stations at the edge of the battlefield and pick up these leaflets or there they could employ the services of a local licensed battlefield guide. My mother opted for the latter though since I was by then a Gettysburg "veteran" I did the duty myself when Mike and I visited in 1964. In the text of the NPS guidebook below notice the 1961 times and rates for those services:
The park tour route has changed several times over the years; note that it begins on McPherson's Ridge, makes a loop to Oak Hill, then back down Seminary Ridge to Warfield Ridge, then through the sites of Longstreet's attack, back up Cemetery Ridge to Cemetery Hill, ending in the area of Culp's Hill and Spangler's Spring. Notice also that there were only a paltry 14 stops on a battlefield as big as Gettysburg and how many places fail to be included!
Although my mother and I made use of the guide for one of the shorter "highlight" trips, we followed that up with one of our own deviating somewhat from the tour folder to go places like Barlow Knoll and East Cavalry Field which were not included in the regular itenerary.
I know in other threads here on the forum readers have said they like seeing old photos of the battlefield, and since that's what I'd come to Gettysburg for in the first place I hope you enjoy seeing it as I first did back in the 1960's. Most of the battlefield and the monuments don't look all that different today, at least not until you reach the southern half of the park. Please excuse the quality of the photos I was able to get at the time with my trusty Kodak Brownie camera; of course the prints have faded quite a bit as well over the intervening half-century too!
For my "virtual tour" here I'll combine the color shots from 1961 with the few black-and-white ones like the one of the Reynolds statue below obviously marked 64. These will be pictured here and in the next two posts in the order we would've seen them back then on the NPS tour.
The Chambersburg Pike and McPherson barn have hardly changed; my photo below, however turned out poorly because I forgot to completely wind the film before the next shot! (Remember having to do that back before digital cameras!?)
The photo below was taken by my mother and shows me, age 14, at the Virginia Monument.
Next, Part II - The battlefield tour continues...
Since I've been anticipating this September's CWT Reunion in Gettysburg, my thoughts have been returning to my very first visits to the town and park. This was back in the summers of 1961 and 1964 during the Civil War Centennial; the first time was with my mother who drove all the way from Dallas, Texas there and back (pre-Interstate!) on the occasion of the July reenactment of First Manassas which we attended as spectators. Three years later in the August following our graduation from high school and before beginning our freshman year in college my friend Mike and I borrowed my father's Pontiac station wagon (remember those?) and duplicated the journey, but this time taking three instead of two weeks to do it. Of course the highlight of both trips - the reenactment in beastly 100 degree weather notwithstanding - was Gettysburg!
This three-page leaflet was at the time the National Park Service's Gettysburg tour folder; note on the map there was NO visitor center in 1961, plus the location of the Cyclorama! I never even saw the park office/museum which was apparently located in the old post office - instead, visitors were supposed to stop at one of the five stone ranger stations at the edge of the battlefield and pick up these leaflets or there they could employ the services of a local licensed battlefield guide. My mother opted for the latter though since I was by then a Gettysburg "veteran" I did the duty myself when Mike and I visited in 1964. In the text of the NPS guidebook below notice the 1961 times and rates for those services:
The park tour route has changed several times over the years; note that it begins on McPherson's Ridge, makes a loop to Oak Hill, then back down Seminary Ridge to Warfield Ridge, then through the sites of Longstreet's attack, back up Cemetery Ridge to Cemetery Hill, ending in the area of Culp's Hill and Spangler's Spring. Notice also that there were only a paltry 14 stops on a battlefield as big as Gettysburg and how many places fail to be included!
Although my mother and I made use of the guide for one of the shorter "highlight" trips, we followed that up with one of our own deviating somewhat from the tour folder to go places like Barlow Knoll and East Cavalry Field which were not included in the regular itenerary.
I know in other threads here on the forum readers have said they like seeing old photos of the battlefield, and since that's what I'd come to Gettysburg for in the first place I hope you enjoy seeing it as I first did back in the 1960's. Most of the battlefield and the monuments don't look all that different today, at least not until you reach the southern half of the park. Please excuse the quality of the photos I was able to get at the time with my trusty Kodak Brownie camera; of course the prints have faded quite a bit as well over the intervening half-century too!
For my "virtual tour" here I'll combine the color shots from 1961 with the few black-and-white ones like the one of the Reynolds statue below obviously marked 64. These will be pictured here and in the next two posts in the order we would've seen them back then on the NPS tour.
The Chambersburg Pike and McPherson barn have hardly changed; my photo below, however turned out poorly because I forgot to completely wind the film before the next shot! (Remember having to do that back before digital cameras!?)
The photo below was taken by my mother and shows me, age 14, at the Virginia Monument.
Next, Part II - The battlefield tour continues...
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