Pennsylvania Hall ('
Penn Hall
Old Dorm) is the

Gettysburg College Gettysburg College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1832, the campus is adjacent to the Gettysburg Battlefield. Gettysburg College has about ...

central administrative building and the college's oldest building. Designed in 1835 by John Cresson Trautwine, it was built in 1838 as a "temple-style edifice with four columns in the portico". During the

Battle of Gettysburg The Battle of Gettysburg () was a three-day battle in the American Civil War, which was fought between the Union and Confederate armies between July 1 and July 3, 1863, in and around Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The battle, won by the Union, ...

in July 1863, Pennsylvania Hall was used as a hospital for wounded troops of the

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Unio ...

and

Confederate A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

Armies. The building is also used for the convocation and commencement traditions of entering and departing the college via building.

History

The 1832 "Pennsylvania College of Gettysburg" (now Gettysburg College) initially shared the

Gettysburg Academy Gettysburg Academy (also known as the Classical Preparatory School and the Gettysburg Gymnasium) was an antebellum boys' boarding school for which the vernacular architecture schoolhouse (now "Reuning Hall") was the "first home" of the Luthera ...

building on High Street with the Gettysburg Theological Seminary. The college purchased from

Thaddeus Stevens Thaddeus Stevens (April 4, 1792August 11, 1868) was an American politician and lawyer who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania, being one of the leaders of the Radical Republican faction of the Histo ...

for $528, and the hall with four stories and was built with a portico on the south side"The College Hospital: Pennsylvania College and the Battle of Gettysburg," Craig Schneider, Gettysburg College: 2007. and a

The hall was the only academic building until the 1847 Linnæan Hall was dedicated as a museum of Natural History (later becoming the chemistry lab then the 2nd academic gymnasium). ''Note:'' This includes In the early years of its existence, Pennsylvania Hall contained the students' living quarters, as well as several offices and recitation rooms. At the time of the battle of Gettysburg, the building was the largest building in town. The interior of the hall was renovated in 1869-70.

Battle of Gettysburg

During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

signal officers used the Old Dorm cupola on June 30, 1863. On July 1, Michael Jacobs, the chemistry and mathematics professor at the college led Union officers to the cupola to observe the battlefield. Battle casualties were treated in Pennsylvania Hall through about July 2

and totaled nearly 700—many of whom died in the building and on surrounding property. Soldiers of both armies were treated in Pennsylvania Hall, as control of the College shifted from Union to Confederate forces on the evening of July 1. Nearby burials of Union soldiers were reinterred in the

Gettysburg National Cemetery Gettysburg National Cemetery, originally called Soldiers' National Cemetery, is a United States national cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, created for Union army casualties sustained in the Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civi ...

in the autumn and winter, and Confederate burials were reinterred in the southern cemeteries, primarily in

Hollywood Cemetery (Richmond, Virginia) Hollywood Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery located at 412 South Cherry Street in the Oregon Hill neighborhood of Richmond, Virginia. It was established in 1847 and designed by the landscape architect John Notman. It is 135-acres in size and ...

. Pennsylvania College resumed classes on September 24, 1863. Bullets, bones, human remains and bloody books were found in and around the building for many years after the end of the battle.

Post-war

The Pennsylvania Hall interior was again renovated in 1889 and in 192

and a United States tablet was erected in Old Dorm in 193

(the "white-painted

building" was the "base hospital" for the

1938 Gettysburg reunion The 1938 Gettysburg reunion was an encampment of American Civil War veterans on the Gettysburg Battlefield for the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg. The gathering included approximately 25 veterans of the battle with a further 1,3 ...

.) A structural renovation of Pennsylvania Hall began January, 1969, to maintain the stability of the exterior walls, roof, and cupola with steel columns, girders and 5 concrete reinforced slabs (1 for each floor, including the attic).National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form, p.2 During the renovation, numerous artifacts of historical significance were recovered from behind walls and under floors. Pennsylvania Hall was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1972.

Current use

Today, Pennsylvania Hall contains the main administrative offices of

. The offices of the college's president and provost are located in the building, as well as the human resources and financial services departments.

References

External links

Pennsylvania College, Pennsylvania Hall, Gettysburg Borough, Adams, PA
at the

Historic American Buildings Survey The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...