Eisenhower National Historic Site

Three adjoining farms in the piedmont of Adams County, Pennsylvania, form the core of this site, with farming on the land continuing since the mid-eighteenth century. The Eisenhowers bought the central farm in 1951 and occupied it through 1969, adding an allee of evergreens and flowering crab trees along a formal entrance drive and installing Secret Service huts and gates for security. Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Commander in Europe and the 34th President, used the farm as a informal retreat, and during his recuperation in 1955 and 1956 he conducted negotiations there with domestic and foreign leaders. The land was also a part of the Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863, when Confederate forces used the farms for artillery parks, headquarters, hospitals and supply routes. The site was transferred to the National Park Service in 1967 and designated a national historic site to recognize both associations.