Visiting Ike and Mamie's Home in Gettysburg

In July of 2013, we traveled to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania and one of the locations we made sure to visit while were there was the Eisenhower National Historic site which is the only home that was owned by General Eisenhower and his wife Mamie.

Eisenhower National Historic Site preserves the home and farm of Dwight D. Eisenhower, the 34th President of the United States, and its surrounding property of 690.5 acres. It is located in Cumberland Township, Adams County, Pennsylvania, just outside Gettysburg. Purchased by then-General Eisenhower and his wife Mamie in 1950, the farm served as a weekend retreat for the President and a meeting place for world leaders, and became the Eisenhowers' home after they left the White House in 1961.  The Eisenhower National Historic Site is located at 243 Eisenhower Farm Rd, Gettysburg, PA 17325.   You can find out more about tour information and hours on the official website.   The house was added to the National Registry of Historical Places in November of 1967.

When purchased, the 189 acres (76 ha) included 600 chickens, 25 cows, and many dilapidated buildings dating back to the 18th and 19th centuries. Renovation of the property was delayed when Eisenhower became supreme commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 1951. After he had attained the presidency of the United States in 1953, Mamie had him rebuild the old house. Much of the original building had to be torn down, due to its deterioration.

With its putting green, skeet range, and view of South Mountain and the Gettysburg Battlefield, it offered President Eisenhower a much-needed respite from the pressures of Washington. It was also a successful cattle operation, with a show herd of black Angus cattle.

For more history about the house, check out out our following video as we cover all of the details.

The inside of the house was decorated by Mamie.   Ike told the contractors, "Whatever she wants, just send me the bill," keep up with the old adage, "Happy wife, happy life".

As we began our research about the location in order to create the videos and this post, we first thought we were just going to go ahead with this location as being "historical" only, since it has been managed by the National Park Service since the years both Eisenhower's had passed on; however, we found some reports in a book that were provided by park employees.   This was enough to create our "Ghost Stories and Folklore" video below.

As I mentioned, we visited this location in 2013.   In the following video we will provide you with our experiences while we were there, as well as, some tips if you would like to visit this location yourself in the future.

Below are some photographs of some of our favorite items at the site.

Let us know down in the comments if you have visited the Eisenhower National Historic site in Gettysburg, or if you would like to visit it yourself some day in the future.   Please share you experiences with us, we would love to hear about them.

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