GETTYSBURG, Pa. — This week marks the 161st anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg and the local Gettysburg community is preparing for an influx of visitors for the occasion.
Destination Gettysburg says tens of thousands of visitors are expected to come to the historic borough this week for the anniversary and July 4th, providing a double boost to the area.
"It's really exciting for the visitors as well as the residents here in Gettysburg," said Karl Pietrzak, the president and CEO of Destination Gettysburg. "It's the big weekend of the year. Everybody looks forward to it. If you want to be in Gettysburg one weekend a year, this is really the weekend."
Pietrzak says the area expects a $25-30 million economic impact in the ten-day period, beginning this week, which makes up around 10% of the total economic impact of the year.
The Gettysburg National Military Park is offering several events this week to commemorate the battle that took place July 1-3, 1863, and helped turn the tide of the Civil War.
"For those historians, or just the people that they want to come to Gettysburg once a year, this is really the time to do it," Pietrzak said. "And there's always something for everybody to see in Gettysburg. But this weekend, especially, on the anniversary of the battle, July first through [the] third, there's so much extra stuff going on."
A full list of the activities this week in Gettysburg can be found here.