Continuing our field trip visit to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
A look at the the famous Rosensteel Museum.
The original 1921 era National Museum which housed the Rosensteel
collection. The collection began in 1863 by sixteen year old John
Rosensteel, who started collecting artifacts off of the field of battle.
This image is from a souvenir postcard from that time.
This structure stood across from the entrance to the National
Cemetery on Taneytown Road.
The expanded museum building as it looked in March of 2009, during the demolition
process. The building was sold and its 89,246 piece collection given to the National Park
Service in 1971. The NPS continued to use the facility as their Visitor Center
until 2009 when a larger building was opened below Hunt Avenue, between
Baltimore Pike and Taneytown Road. The site of the Rosensteel building
was to be torn down and the land restored to its 1863 appearance.
March 2009
November 2011
A view of the 1921 balcony in March 2009.
During their ownership, the Rosensteel family
lived above the museum. Those rooms became
offices for the NPS when they moved in.
The same view on November 18, 2011
In this March 2009 photograph, the second expansion of the building
is being taken down. This section had housed the original Electric Map
attraction in 1938. It was a popular tourist destination and gave a narrated
orientation program that explained the three day battle.
The same view on November 18, 2011.
A Civil War Centennial era postcard with a bus load of tourists arriving.
Similar view as seen in March 2009, during the demolition process.
Brochures for the museum. At left is a 1957 version. At right is a 1963
edition after a larger and expanded Electric Map feature was opened.
The inside of the 1957 brochure discusses the 1955 expansion of
the building which tripled their collection display space.
From the 1963 brochure, a view of the improved Electric Map
auditorium with a 960 person capacity.
The beginning of tearing down the Electric Map auditorium.
March 2009.
The 1955 expansion and office space are falling to the wrecking
crew in this March 2009 photograph. Nothing remains today of
this facility except the large parking lot and sidewalk.
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