Eisenhower National Historic Site

To visit the Eisenhower National Historic Site, located next to the Gettysburg battlefield, and tour the grounds and house, you need to stop by the Gettysburg National Military Park’s Visitor Center and buy a $9.00 ticket to ride a shuttle bus to the site.

Or – you can show up at the entrance at around 7:00 and walk the grounds completely alone.

Of course, with the second option, you do not get to go inside the house itself. Given that I was not that interested in the inside of the house – especially if it was going to cost me $9.00 to see it – I chose that second option.

After the prior day had brought heavy rains and complete overcast weather to the area, it was nice to see blue sky and sunshine as I headed to the entrance. The sign marking the Historic Site is simply printed on a hunk of canvas and hung from a pole (see my photo). From here, a very long driveway eventually led to a small parking lot and a walkway up to the main house.

The grounds were very nice, with a view of South Mountain off to the west. Apart from the main house, there was a small guest house designed to look like an old, one-room schoolhouse. A large structure to the north of the main house is a barn dating to 1887 where Eisenhower kept some horses, hay, and other farm stuff. Several other smaller buildings dot the site, and across the driveway is what has been labeled “Farm 2”. A Show Barn, Maternity Barn, Corn Crib and other farm buildings are located here.

And finally, located in the backyard of the main home is a full-sized putting green because, why not!

Eisenhower didn’t get to enjoy full-time use of his farm as every time he thought he was retiring, something brought him back to public life. First, it was as President of Columbia University, then Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, followed by Supreme Commander of NATO, and finally, President of the United States. At last he could retire to the farm in 1961 and was able to enjoy it until his death in 1969. In 1967, he and his wife donated the farm to the federal government with the stipulation that they may continue living there. When Mamie Eisenhower died in 1979, the National Park Service took over managing the land.

I did learn one interesting tidbit of information about Eisenhower. As a teenager, he had no interest in the military and certainly not a military career. He did, however, want a college education. Coming from a family of modest means, he discovered that he could get a completely free education at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He secured an appointment to the Academy and his life took a drastically different path.

Steve