National Homestead at Gettysburg
The National Homestead at Gettysburg (located at 777 Baltimore Street) was an orphanage and widows home opened in October 1866[1]: 70 (incorporated March 22, 1867)[2] on the Gettysburg Battlefield along Steinwehr Avenue on the north foot of Cemetery Hill. The facility was created by Dr. John F. Bourns after fundraising resulting from the identification of a Battle of Gettysburg casualty's children as Amos Humiston's.[1] In 1867, Ulysses S. Grant was photographed with orphans at the entrance,[3] and an 1870 Pennsylvania bill was used to fund the facility.[4]
The beginning history of the homestead was prosperous, but after the initial head mistress was replaced by Rosa J. Carmichael, the history of the orphanage took a turn for the worse. Carmichael was a cruel disciplinarian who created a dungeon for disciplining children. This dungeon, along the stories that accompany it have made the homestead notorious. It's also become a popular spot for ghost hunting.[5] In 2011, the Ghost Adventures gang spent the night in the basement trying to communicate with Carmichael's ghost.
Eventually, the orphanage was turned into a soldier's museum that was once owned by actor Cliff Arquette, who narrated tours of the dungeon. The museum has been closed since November 2014.[6]
References
- ^ a b Reef, Catharine. Alone in the World: Orphans and Orphanages in America. Retrieved 2012-10-19.
read the account in November 1863 [and suspected they were] their children, Frank, Alice, and Fred, ages eight, six, and four.
p. 70: The Humiston family subsequently resided at the homestead for 3 years until the widow remarried, when they relocated to Massachusetts. - ^ Beitel, Calvin Gustavus (1874). A Digest of Titles of Corporations Chartered by the Legislature... J. Campbell & son. Retrieved 2011-11-22 – via Internet Archive.
Gettysburg.
- ^ The Star and Sentinel, Jun 26, 1867
- ^ Gettysburg Compiler, Jul 1, 1870
- ^ Levy, Dustin (28 May 2016). "Gettysburg orphanage honored on 150th anniversary". Evening Sun. Hanover, Pennsylvania. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
- ^ "Soldier's Orphanage Dungeon Tour". Roadside America. Doug Kirby, Ken Smith, Mike Wilkins. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
External links