Confederates Take The Shriver House 2010

Gettysburg , PA – On Saturday, July 3, 2010 , from 5 to 9 pm , Confederates will occupy the home of George and Hettie (Weikert) Shriver just as they did during the Battle of Gettysburg. This time visitors are invited to talk to the soldiers to learn “first-hand” what occurred during those three days of terror in July, 1863. Hear how Hettie took her two girls, Sadie (7) and Mollie (5), and her fifteen-year-old neighbor, Tillie Pierce, to seek safety outside town only to find themselves deep within the battle lines.

This living history presentation provides visitors an opportunity to speak with Confederate soldiers as they prepare for battle. Watch the sharpshooters as they occupy the attic, fire muskets at their enemy on Cemetery Hill and, in some cases, take their last breath before meeting their maker. A make-shift hospital in the summer kitchen is manned by doctors and civilians who stepped up to assist in the aftermath. Children can have their "wounds" bandaged or make period toys such as whirli-gigs or church dolls. At the conclusion of the tour, cool off with a root beer in Shriver's Saloon with some of the Confederates and "local citizens" of the time who have their own harrowing stories to share.


Visitors can also see Civil War medical supplies, live cartridges, and much more, discovered during the restoration of the Shrivers home - 133 years after the fighting ended.

The Shriver's home was painstakingly restored in 1996 and is now open to the public as a heritage museum. Tours offers special insight into the lives of the people of Gettysburg and how the Civil War, and in particular the Battle of Gettysburg, affected them. The story is told through the eyes of the George and Hettie Shriver whose home was just a few months old when the Civil War started. The tour also gives a glimpse into the lifestyles, customs, and furnishings of the 1860’s.

The Shriver House Museum has earned numerous awards including the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission’s Historic Preservation Award. The Museum has been used as a filming site for PBS, A&E, HGTV, BBC , CNN, The History Channel, The Travel Channel and The Discovery Channel and has been selected as stop on the Pennsylvania Civil War Trails program.

For additional information on the Shriver House Museum, please call 717-337-2800

View highlights of last years reenactment at  http://www.shriverhouse.org/Videos.html


Event: Confederates Take the Shriver House

Contact: Nancie W. Gudmestad, Director

Address: Shriver House Museum

309 Baltimore Street, Gettysburg, PA 17325

Phone #: 717-337-2800

Date: Saturday, July 3, 2010

Time: 5 - 9 pm

Admission: $10/adult; $7 children 12/under

Email: mail@shriverhouse.org