Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

Gettysburg is a borough and the county seat of Adams County, Pennsylvania. The Battle of Gettysburg (1863) and President Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address are named for this town. The town hosts visitors to the Gettysburg National Battlefield in the Gettysburg National Military Park and has three institutions of higher learning: Lutheran Theological Seminary, Gettysburg College, and Harrisburg Area Community College. As of the 2010 census, the borough had a population of 7,620.

History
Samuel Gettys settled at the Shippensburg–Baltimore and Philadelphia–Pittsburgh crossroads with a 1761 tavern where soldiers and traders came to rest. To the southwest is the 1776 Dobbin House Tavern within the subsequent 1786 border established for the borough. After a "Strabane" township location between "Hunter's and Getty's towns" was planned as the county seat in 1790, in 1791 "Revd. Alexander Dobbin and David Moore Sr. were appointed trustees for the county of Adams to erect public buildings in…Gettysburg." The founder of the Studebaker Corporation was born in 1833 in Gettysburg.

In 1858 the Gettysburg Railroad completed construction of a railroad line from Gettysburg to Hanover. The Gettysburg Railroad Station opened in 1859. Passenger train service to the town ended in 1942. The station was restored in 2006. In 2011, Senator Robert Casey introduced S. 1897, which would include the railroad station within the boundary of Gettysburg National Military Park.

By 1860, the borough "had ~450 buildings [which] housed carriage manufacturing, shoemakers, and tanneries".

Civil War
The Battle of Gettysburg, one of the largest battles during the American Civil War, was fought between 1–3 July 1863 across the fields and heights south of the town. In the end, Confederate General Lee and his other generals retreated. Casualties were high; there were over 27,000 Confederate and 31,000 Union losses. The residents of Gettysburg were left to care for the wounded and bury the dead following the Confederate retreat. Approximately 8,000 men and 3,000 horses lay under the summer sun. The soldiers' bodies were gradually reinterred in what is today known as Gettysburg National Cemetery, where, on November 19, 1863, Abraham Lincoln attended a ceremony to officially consecrate the grounds and delivered his famous Gettysburg Address.

A 20-year-old woman, Ginnie Wade, was the only civilian killed during the battle. She was hit by a stray bullet that passed through her kitchen door while she was making bread on July 3.

Physical damage can still be seen in some of the houses throughout the town, notably the Schmucker House located on Seminary Ridge.

Geography
Gettysburg is located on U.S. Route 30 about 25 mi west of York, Pennsylvania. Rock Creek, a tributary of the Monocacy River and part of the Potomac River watershed, flows along its eastern edge. According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 4.3 sqkm, all land.

Climate
Gettysburg has a humid continental climate with hot, humid summers and cool winters. On average, January is the coldest month, July is the warmest month, and June is the wettest month. The hottest temperature recorded in Gettysburg was 104 F in 1988; the coldest temperature recorded was −25 F in 1994.

Demographics
At the 2000 census, the Gettysburg Urban Cluster population was 15,532. At the 2010 census, Gettysburg was included within the Hanover Urban Area, which had a population of 66,301. Gettysburg is the principal city of the Gettysburg, PA Micropolitan Statistical Area.

At the 2000 census, there were 7,490 people, 2,541 households and 1,229 families residing in the borough. The racial makeup of the borough was 85.46% White, 5.79% Black or African American, 0.37% Native American, 1.28% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 4.67% from other races, and 2.38% from two or more races. 8.02% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 2,541 households of which 22.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 32.6% were married couples living together, 12.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 51.6% were non-families. 42.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.17 and the average family size was 2.94.

16.2% of the population were under the age of 18, 36.2% from 18 to 24, 19.1% from 25 to 44, 15.9% from 45 to 64, and 12.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 23 years. For every 100 females there were 88.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.1 males.

The median household income was $29,840 and the median family income was $40,489. Males had a median income of $30,341 compared with $21,111 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $14,157. About 13.2% of families and 19.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 24.0% of those under age 17 and 5.2% of those age 77 or over.

Industry
The main industry of the borough is tourism associated with such historic sites as Gettysburg National Military Park (including the Gettysburg National Cemetery) and Eisenhower National Historic Site. Gettysburg has many activities and tours to offer to vacationers and tourists who are interested in the Gettysburg area and the history of the community and the battle. Tourists for the annual reenactment of the Battle of Gettysburg use borough facilities, which include the Dobbin House Tavern and Hotel Gettysburg.

Colleges and universities
Gettysburg College, Harrisburg Area Community College, and the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg employ thousands of people in the borough.

Transportation
Many roads radiate from Gettysburg, providing hub-like access to Washington, D.C. 75 mi, Baltimore 55 mi, Harrisburg 37 mi, Carlisle 27 mi, Frederick and Hagerstown, Maryland 32 mi and Hanover, Pennsylvania 14 mi. York is 30 mi east on the Lincoln Highway (U.S. Route 30), the first transcontinental U.S. highway, and Chambersburg is 25 mi west on it. Today the borough is a 2 1⁄2 hour drive from Philadelphia and a 3 1⁄2 hour drive from Pittsburgh via the Pennsylvania Turnpike and U.S. Route 15. Gettysburg Regional Airport, a small general aviation airport, is located 2 mi west of Gettysburg.

The main east-west road through downtown Gettysburg is U.S. Route 30, which is known as York Street east of Lincoln Square and Chambersburg Street west of Lincoln Square.

York Adams Transportation Authority (YATA) operates public transportation in Adams County. Freedom Transit, implemented in 2009, is a local bus system with three routes in the Gettysburg area. The hub of the bus system, the new Gettysburg Transit Center, is under construction on Carlisle Street. Beginning in 2011, a Rabbit Transit commuter bus to Harrisburg runs four times each weekday in each direction.

Media

 * The Gettysburg Times, a daily newspaper
 * Raices De Todos, a bilingual monthly cultural magazine, serves the city's growing Latino/Hispanic population
 * The Evening Sun, a daily newspaper
 * Celebrate Gettysburg, a lifestyles magazine
 * WGET-AM 1320 and WGTY-FM 107.7, owned by the Times and News Publishing Company

Sister cities
Gettysburg's sister cities are:
 * 🇺🇸 Gettysburg, South Dakota
 * 🇳🇮 León, Nicaragua, since 1987