For over a hundred years, people from around the world have come to Gettysburg to see and learn the history of the most studied battle of the American Civil War. This story of two armies, fighting for their rights and beliefs, has more to be told. Gettysburg has a rich history that includes interesting stories about the free African-American community of the 1800s and beyond - engaging men and women who of lived, worked, worshiped, owned property, and assisted the Civil War efforts. Populated with educators, businessmen, and farmers, Gettysburg held a diverse citizenship of ancestry and ethnicity – free to live and work together. Many of these stories have yet to be discovered, those of the citizens and their continued Quest for Freedom. On the fields that became battlegrounds and in the town is a rich history that belongs to all of us. We invite you to visit and learn the stories of lives built and rebuilt by our ancestors, an experience to be shared by all.

Gettysburg offers a variety of accommodations to satisfy your needs and desires. In addition to our historical site offerings, we have museums and tours. We also offer a selection of retail shops both downtown and in a factory store setting. Our surrounding countryside offers farm markets, a winery and orchard tours. There are outdoor activities including biking, hiking, fishing and winter mountain sports.

A short drive from Baltimore, Washington D.C., Harrisburg and Philadelphia, Gettysburg is a wonderful location to start your tour on our journey through the lives of others along their Quest for Freedom.

For more information, contact the Gettysburg Convention & Visitors Bureau:

• Phone: 717-334-6274 or 800-337-5015

Round out your trip with a visit to Chambersburg.

Related destinations:

• Abraham Brien Farm House – Gettysburg National Military Park
  (Located behind the Cyclorama Building on the grounds of the Park's Visitors Center) This farm house, owned by Abraham Brien, a free Black man, stood in the middle of General Pickett's Confederate army charge during the Civil War's Battle of Gettysburg.

• Adams County Historical Society
  P.O. Box 4325, Gettysburg, PA 17325
  
  Archives include documents, photographs, maps, and diaries related to the famous battle, as well as the heritage of the Underground Railroad.

• Dobbin House Tavern
  89 Steinwehr Ave.
  Gettysburg, PA
  An Underground Railroad site that provides a walk through time featuring a small crawlspace where escaped slaves were given refuge. Location still serves as a tavern and is open to the public.

• Gettysburg National Military Park – Gettysburg National Cemetery
  Open All Year – September through May 8am to 5pm June through August 8am to 6pm

• Historic Fairfield Inn 1757
  15 West Main Street, Route 116
  Fairfield, PA
  An Underground Railroad site that served as a "Safe Station" for fleeing slaves. A window on the third floor reveals a small room used to hide slaves. The Inn, open to the public, still serves as a tavern and Bed & Breakfast.

• Huntingdon Friends Meetinghouse
  Quaker Church Road
  York Springs, Latimore Township, PA 17372
  
  Huntingdon Friends Meetinghouse and Cemetery is the burial site of two of Adams County's most prominent Quaker anti-slavery activists and Underground Railroad stationmasters, William Wright (1788-1865) and Phebe Wierman Wright (1790-1873). Like their relatives, the Gibbons' in Lancaster County, the Wrights are reported to have assisted nearly 1,000 formerly enslaved people.

• Lincoln Cemetery
  Long Lane and Washington Street, Gettysburg, PA Men of color who fought bravely for the Union Army are laid to rest in this cemetery. Here, approximately 30 US Colored Troop soldiers are remembered and honored for their bravery and loyalty in the fight for freedom.

• Mason Dixon Line
  Approximately Seven miles South of Gettysburg, PA.
  This boundary, surveyed along the borders of Pennsylvania and Maryland, became a symbol of freedom from oppression for Blacks enslaved in southern states. Underground Railroad agents ushered thousands of fugitive slaves across this line and on to freedom.

• Menallen Friends Meeting House
  1107 Carlisle Road, Biglerville, PA 17307
  
  Burial site of Adams County anti-slavery activist and Underground Railroad stationmaster Cyrus Griest.

• Rostrum and Lincoln Speech Memorial
  site of President Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address – said to be a "masterpiece of the English language" in 272 words. Credited as being the president that "freed the slaves," the speech noted "that all men are created equal."

• St. Paul's AME Zion Church
  269 South Washington Street
  Gettysburg, PA
  Home of the "Slave Refugee Society", established in 1840 as "a means to help those who sought freedom from the 'tyrannical yoke of oppression'." St. Paul's was the center of Black life and culture in Gettysburg during the 19th century.

• Yellow Hill Cemetery
  Yellow Hill Road
  (2 miles west of intersection PA Rt. 34)
  Butler Township, PA 17307
  
  Nine miles north of Gettysburg along Rt. 34, Yellow Hill Cemetery is all that remains of a free Black community that provided a safe haven for freedom seekers.