ADAMS COUNTY, Pa. — Gettysburg National Military Park visitors may soon be able to take a step back in time and spend a unique night on the battlefield.
“This is a brand-new element to the battlefield experience," said Gettysburg National Military Park Communications Specialist Jason Martz.
The National Park Service Historic Leasing Program could be coming to Gettysburg National Military Park. This would give private entities an opportunity to take over care of the 19th-century-aged Bushman, Slyder, Rose and Althoff Houses on the park grounds and make them available for short-term rentals to the public.
It’s an experience that park officials say would be one-of-a-kind.
“It creates an incredibly unique opportunity, right in the heart of parts of the battlefield," said Martz. "It's very quiet, very secluded, yet at the same time it's right in the middle of everything.”
The introduction of the program would also help the national park service preserve important pieces of U.S. history.
“As many eyes as we can have on it, both on the interior and the exterior, is a win-win all the way around," said Martz. "We win because the structure continues to have a fantastic life from a preservation perspective, but it is also a benefit to the visitor.”
Under the nationwide program, there are 211 total leases at parks around the country that brings in a total of $11 million annually. Those funds all get put back into preserving the structures that the visitors stay in.
Park officials say preservation is essential.
“We can drive around the battlefield and we could have seen different positions that troop would have held or fought over," said Martz. "These homes are living witnesses to what would have happened here in July of 1863 and so preserving them is absolutely critical.”
Officials hope the start of this program and the preservation it would provide would make future trips memorable for visitors.
“When visitors come here, there are many cases where this is a one-time, once-in-a-lifetime bucket-list level visit," said Martz. "I think when a visitor comes here, we want them to take memories home with them.”
The program is currently in the bidding process, as the National Park Service evaluates potential lease candidates. The start date of when the historic homes would be available to rent has yet to be determined.
More information can be found on the Gettysburg National Military Park website.
