Round Top Park was an excursion park located in

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania Gettysburg (; ) is a borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Adams County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the borough had a population of 7,106 people. Gettysburg was the site of ...

, near the end of the Round Top Branch and owned by the Gettysburg & Harrisburg Railroad. It operated from 1884 to 1896. In addition to amusements, the park provided services during the memorial association era for steamtrain and trolley tourists visiting nearby military sites of 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, ...

History

The " dummy" Baldwin steam engine began to bring guests to the area in June 1884. Ephram H. Minnigh was the park's manager at the time. On July 4, 1884, Colonel John H. McClellan held a free ox roast at the park to benefit the

Carlisle Indian Industrial School The United States Indian Industrial School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, generally known as Carlisle Indian Industrial School, was the flagship Indian boarding school in the United States from its founding in 1879 to 1918. It was based in the histo ...

. In 1886, the

Gettysburg Battlefield Memorial Association The Gettysburg Battlefield Memorial Association (GBMA) was a historic preservation membership organization and is the eponym for the Gettysburg Battlefield#Memorial association era, battlefield's memorial association era. The association was ch ...

purchased the grove in and around Round Top. In 1889, the Pennsylvania Reserves held a reunion in the park. The park featured several amenities, including a covered pavilion, a dining pavilion, a dance pavilion, and a cook house. Amusements at Round Top Park included target shooting and a

merry-go-round A carousel or carrousel (mainly North American English), merry-go-round (International English), or galloper (British English) is a type of amusement ride consisting of a rotating circular platform with seats for riders. The seats are tradit ...

. This merry-go-round was put up for sale in 1894. In 1896, GBMA removed several of the park's buildings, marking the end of the park's usage as an excursion park. On July 4, 1900, the land was used by the Tacony Rifles as a camp.
1900 Gettysburg Compiler article2000 "Out of the Past")
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References

{{Reflist, 35em, refs= {{Cite news , date=August 12, 1884 , title=Little Round Top Park , url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=-BBCAAAAIBAJ&sjid=AbkMAAAAIBAJ&pg=3220,3623003&dq=round-top-park&hl=en , format=Google News Archive , location=Baltimore, Maryland , newspaper=Sunday Herald , accessdate=2011-02-23 , quote=''The Park is fitted up with Dancing Pavilion, Dining Room, &c., &c. Dinner 50 cents. Lunch 25 cents. … Returning, leave Little Round Top Park at 4.45 P.M., arriving in Baltimore 7.55 P. M.'' {{Cite news , date=April 29, 1884 , title=The New Railroad: Its Pictures, Round-Top Branch, &c. , url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=-1MmAAAAIBAJ&sjid=JgAGAAAAIBAJ&pg=1450%2C673522 , format=Google News Archive , newspaper=Gettysburg Compiler , accessdate=2011-05-11 , quote=''Lewis A. Bushman has contracted with Joseph J. Smith for the erection of a warehouse and dwelling at the terminus of the branch, on the Taneytown road. The railroad company has purchased a tract of 15 acres from Mr. Bushman between the Taneytown road and Little Round-Top for excursion purposes.'' {{Cite news , date=June 17, 1884 , title=Local Items , url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=MVsmAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Xf8FAAAAIBAJ&pg=6005%2C1239434 , format=Google News Archives , newspaper=The Star and Sentinel, accessdate=2011-07-04 , quote=''The Round Top extension of the new railroad was completed last week, ready for excursion tours. The work of blocking up and ballasting is in progress. A large covered pavilion has been erected in the grove east of Round Top. Burgess Tipton, with an eye to business, has put up a photographic gallery on the grounds.'' {{Cite news , date=June 29, 1886 , title=Round-Top Park Now Open , url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=a1QmAAAAIBAJ&sjid=JgAGAAAAIBAJ&pg=3009,5200551&dq=round-top-park&hl=en , format=Google News archive , newspaper=Gettysburg Compiler , accessdate=2011-10-11 , quote=Round-trip trains are run from Gettysburg morning and evening. {{Cite news , date=November 13, 1896 , title=Town and Country , url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Wck9AAAAIBAJ&sjid=JjcMAAAAIBAJ&pg=6262,1527902&dq=round-top-park+1896&hl=en , format=Google News Archive , newspaper=New Oxford Item , accessdate=2011-07-04 , quote=''The dancing pavilion, cook house and all other buildings have been removed from Round Top park by the Battlefield commission.'' {{Cite news , date=June 20, 1893 , title=The Electric Line on the Battlefield , url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=p3EmAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ff8FAAAAIBAJ&pg=4380,1718202&dq=round-top+dance+gettysburg&hl=en , format=Google News Archive , newspaper=The Star and Sentinel , accessdate=2011-02-25 , quote=''…to the dance house… The trolley people propose to build a station just where Hancock was wounded.'' Defunct amusement parks in Pennsylvania Tourist attractions in Adams County, Pennsylvania Gettysburg Battlefield