Hunterstown Historic District

Hunterstown is a small village in Straban Township, Adams County, laid out by David Hunter in 1749 or 1750 under the name Woodstock and renamed in 1800. Of the 53 main structures in the district, 49 lie within the original town perimeters, and many are shown on 1858 and 1872 maps, although most have been altered by additions, siding and new roofing. The Great Conewago Presbyterian Church, a fieldstone building with a 1787 datestone, is the most prominent structure. The village grew into a self-sustaining community with two churches, an academy, two chair factories, three stores and a tavern-hotel before the Civil War. Its residents were involved in the 1863 campaign, and a skirmish took place in the town on July 2 as Confederate forces withdrew toward Gettysburg. The district is regarded as a fine example of an early post village that reached its height from the 1820s to the 1850s.