The Wills House on Gettysburg’s Diamond/Lincoln Square/Circle reopened last week. There is still some work to do to complete the house, however. The shutters, for instance, are still only on the first floor of the building. This view was taken facing southeast at approximately 1:30 PM on Tuesday, February 17, 2009.
The David Wills House, where President Abraham Lincoln stayed the night before giving his Gettysburg Address reopened last week, and drew heavy crowds over the holiday weekend. We decided to visit after all the crowds had died down and we could take our time going through the house and documenting the interior for our readers who can’t be here to see it for themselves. Well, guess what? The Wills House’s winter hours has it closed on Monday and Tuesday, so today we will show some exterior shots. We will come back for the interior shots later, and take our time going through the building.
We’ll start looking at the west side of the building. There is a doorway on the bottom right. This view was taken facing northeast at approximately 1:30 PM on Tuesday, February 17, 2009.
This plaque has made its reappearance to the right of the door. This view was taken facing east at approximately 1:30 PM on Tuesday, February 17, 2009.
…and the Civil War building plaque is on the left side of the door. This view was taken facing east at approximately 1:30 PM on Tuesday, February 17, 2009.
Not to be negative, but we were really disappointed with this sign hanging off the northwest corner of the building. One of the reasons that the National Park Service was encouraged to take over this building was to lend the National Park Service’s name and image to the downtown area and help local businesses. When people saw that this was a National Park Service site, which signifies quality to many Americans, they would probably make a stop here. The symbol of the National Park Service is the arrowhead. One can barely see the arrowhead on this sign. We know that there is a new signage throughout the National Park Service that minimizes the arrowhead, but we feel an exception should be made in this case. Any local or state historic site can have a brown and white sign. We believe that a large National Park Service arrowhead should be in this sign’s place, or as a part of this sign, or else this is just another building to an average visitor. This view was taken facing northeast at approximately 1:30 PM on Tuesday, February 17, 2009.
On the north side of the building, this wayside is back in place. This view was taken facing south at approximately 1:30 PM on Tuesday, February 17, 2009.
To the left (east) of the entrance door on the north side of the building is this plaque with the Gettysburg Address. This view was taken facing south at approximately 1:30 PM on Tuesday, February 17, 2009.
…and to the right of the entrance door are the hours of operation. They are open Wednesday through Sunday, 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM. This view was taken facing southwest at approximately 1:30 PM on Tuesday, February 17, 2009.
See the following related posts:
Abraham Lincoln at Gettysburg, November 18, 1863: 145 Years Ago This Evening on November 18, 2008.
Gettysburg’s Wills House: White Stenciling Completed on West Side on November 5, 2008.
Stenciling, railing, steps, and shutters of the Wills House on October 31, 2008.
Stenciling progressing well on the west side of the Wills House on October 28, 2008.
Completion of the white stenciling on the north side of the Wills House on October 21, 2008.
White stenciling appearing on the north side of the Wills House on October 14, 2008.
Wills House needs a new manager on September 12, 2008.
First coat of red paint completely covering the north side of the Wills House on September 4, 2008.
Red paint beginning to cover the north side of the Wills House on September 3, 2008.
Only the west side of the Wills House still had red paint on August 19, 2008.
West side of the Wills House started to be painted red on August 13, 2008.
Wills House’s sidewalk construction on July 21, 2008.
The Gettysburg Railroad Station on March 6, 2008.
