THE COLLECTION
AT GETTYSBURG NATIONAL MILITARY PARK.
Priceless Items Tell An Amazing Story.

With some 300,000 historic artifacts and 700,000 text documents, maps and photographs, the Civil War collection at Gettysburg National Military Park is one of the most extensive in the world. Each object and every document in this collection tells a story: of duty, of sacrifice, of patriotism and of reconciliation.

Soon, visitors will be able to experience these stories in a whole new way, with the opening of the new Museum and Visitor Center at Gettysburg National Military Park. Expanded exhibit galleries and open storage areas will enable visitors to see items from this priceless collection in context, helping them gain a fuller understanding of the significance of each piece. Equally important, all of the collection will, for the first time, be housed in climate-controlled facilities that will ensure its preservation for future generations. And to make sure that the experience reaches its full potential, the exhibit galleries will also include objects and artifacts on loan from other collections, both public and private.

The pieces within the park’s collection paint vivid pictures of the battle and its circumstances. Here, one can see the sapling that Private George Kistler pulled from the ground at the Peach Orchard during the Battle of Gettysburg, to create a makeshift crutch.

A paper Valentine holds a note from a soldier to the residents of a house in Gettysburg. It reads, "July 2nd, 1863. Mr. Yankee: Your house is not torn up at all, compared with the way your Soldier did at Fredericksburg. I only killed one goose + took one pair stocking. Rebel."

Within the collection, there are dozens of historically significant flags, letters from soldiers and their loved ones, from government and military officials, and from civilians; and paintings, many done by veterans of the battles and most never seen by generations of park visitors.

Visit the new Museum and Visitor Center at Gettysburg National Military Park, and let these pieces tell you their stories.