Ike's retirement home

Living here in Gettysburg, I often drive past the Eisenhower farm and think nothing of it. But somehow, today, I realized that a former president of the United States and the former Allied commander of WWII lived HERE in MY town. How many people in the United States can say that?

Dwight D. Eisenhower spent a lot of time here prior to actually moving here. During WWI, he was in charge of the Tank Corps that had a camp on the spot where Pickett's Charge took place. This Tank Corps encampment changed the landscape of the ground where Pickett's, Trimble's, and Pettigrew's men charged across that field. They flattened some of it out, built small ridges at other areas, and just destroyed the ground so that what we see today is not necessarily the ground those brave men marched across. But Ike was there!

He also came back several times as a visitor before actually purchasing a house/farm here. There is also a famous picture of his class of cadets sitting on the steps in front of Christ Lutheran Church....and there is Eisenhower, right in the middle of them.

One of the park rangers has told me that Eisenhower had "caught the bug" that so many of us have. That horrible disease that gets into your blood and no matter what you do, it won't die. That disease that makes you return time and time again to this hallowed ground. What is it? I don't know but I know that I have a fatal case of it. I figure that this disease is going to kill me yet. But its also comforting to know that there are thousands of people out there that have it and there were thousands that had it before I was even born.

The Eisenhower farm is a beautiful piece of property at the corner of Pumping Station Road and West Confederate Avenue. At the time of the battle it was the Pitzer farmhouse. The Eisenhower's more or less torn down the house that was on the farm (except for a small section that was still stable) and rebuilt that house to what you see today. Former President Eisenhower also rebuilt that farmland. The ground was so devastated that nothing would grow on it....but using his techniques, he rebuilt it and made that ground able to grow crops. He also had his prized Black Angus Cows.

Too often people move to other areas and instead of improving the ground and the community, they tear it down. President Eisenhower improved everything he did. Or so it seems to me. I have to congratulate him on a job well done in the improvements that he made to his farm. Today the farm is open to the public. You need to go to the Visitors Center and catch a shuttle from there (the Eisenhower's wanted the farm to remain a working farm and didn't want a huge parking lot made on the ground....so that's the reason for the shuttle service). The trip over is well worth it! Walking the ground is a wonderful way to step back in time. The house is the way Mamie left it.....straight from the 1950's.....although she died in the 1970's. Seeing the putting green or the BBQ area or the skeet shooting range or any number of other things on that ground is a great way to spend an afternoon. I highly recommend it to anyone who even has a remote interest in the Eisenhower's. A great time to visit is at Christmas when the house is decorated!

Although I haven't spent much time there, I have gone a few times and its something that any visitor to Gettysburg should consider. To understand Eisenhower, is to understand his obsession with this place.