When you hear “Gettysburg,” the name of a specific US President is likely to spring to you mind. Eisenhower, right?
| President | Dwight Eisenhower |
| Location | Gettysburg, PA |
| Operated By | National Parks Service |
| When Visited | November 20, 2016 |
| Who with | My brother, Doug |
| Presidential Significance | Home and farm that served as a retreat during Eisenhower’s presidency and his full-time residence afterward. |
| Pre-Visit Reading | None – this visit was almost an afterthought, so no preparation went into this! |
My visit to the Eisenhower National Historic Site was basically a last minute afterthought. While visiting my brother in Virginia, we took a hastily planned day trip to Gettysburg. Eisenhower was the last President from my mind. Before this trip came about, I honestly didn’t even know he had lived there. But then I saw his farm on the list of ticket options at the Gettysburg National Military Park, and decided to check it out. I’m glad I did, because this ended up being the highlight of my trip to Gettysburg!
OK, I’m lying. The whisky walnut salad dressing at this pub where we had lunch was really the highlight of the trip. Seriously, this was over three years ago and I still have fantasies about that salad dressing. Damn, it was good….
Anyhow, the salad dressing was amazing, but the Eisenhower house was right up there too. Definitely wins the silver medal for trip highlights.
The site of Eisenhower’s farm is immediately adjacent to the Gettysburg National Military Park, and to visit the Eisenhower site you actually have to go buy a ticket at the Gettysburg NMP visitor center and catch a shuttle. However, the Eisenhower National Historic Site is its own entity within the National Parks Service, which administers both sites. This post is going to just be about the Eisenhower NHS; I’ll cover the military park another time.
The history of the home…
The Eisenhowers purchased the house and farm after World War II as a retirement home. At the time, Eisenhower wasn’t really planning on the whole being President for eight years thing and thought he’d be able to settle into retirement a lot sooner than he actually did.
When the Eisenhowers bought the farm in 1950, the property was not in great shape, and required extensive renovation. The Eisenhowers added on to the original house so much that most of the home they lived in ended up being new construction.
Touring the Home
Once inside, we were greeted by another park ranger who gave us a brief talk and a tour of the front room, then left us to explore the rest of the house on our own, but was available for questions.
TO BE CONTINUED
