Spirits of Gettysburg, Gettysburg Battlefield, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

Spirits of Gettysburg, Farnsworth House, Gettysburg Battlefield, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

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Farnsworth House, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Former name and sign of the Farnsworth House
The Farnsworth House is located at 401 Baltimore Street, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

The house was constructed in 1810 with the brick portion added in 1833, and was owned by the Sweney family during the Battle of Gettysburg.

On the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg, the Farnsworth House fell into Confederate hands after the Union troops were routed through the town. As the Northern forces entrenched along Culp's Hill, the house was used as a bastion for Confederate sharpshooters as part of a Confederate perimeter paralleling the base of Culp's Hill.

The area between the Farnsworth and adjacent Confederate positions and the Union troops defending against a Confederate advance on Culp's Hill became a "no man's land" where intruders of either side fell under sharpshooter fire from the opposing line. Today, the wall of the house facing the Union position is pot-marked with over a hundred bullet holes.

Following the battle, the house was used as one of a number of general headquarters of the Union Army. Over 150 bullet holes still mark the outer wall facing Culp's Hill.

Farnsworth House, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Restoration of the Sweney House (so-called after its Civil War owners) began in 1972 by then-new owners, the Loring H. Shultz family. Prior to the establishment being named the Farnsworth House (in honor of Union General Elon John Farnsworth), the bed and breakfast was known as Sleepy Hollow. The family has operated the establishment for over 28 years.

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