Gettysburg Battlefield Preservation Association
Update On Lady Farm Restoration
July 2003
GETTYSBURG, Pa. - The Gettysburg Battlefield Preservation
Association (GBPA) reports good progress in preserving the Daniel
Lady Farm and paying down the $400,000 mortgage.
During the Gettysburg battle, the Hanover Road farm was headquarters
for a Confederate cavalry unit and location of several artillery
batteries and field hospitals.
GBPA bought the 140-acre property six years ago at public auction
to prevent it from being developed. Treasurer Kathi Schue says
that because of the mortgage and work that needed to be done
"there was great concern that the organization would be
able to accomplish its goal."
"Today we can report that GBPA is well on the way to achieving
that objective," she says.Thanks to sponsors who have purchased
"a piece of the farm," through plot sales, GBPA has
paid down 22 percent of the mortgage over the past 18 months.
The mortgage was recently refinanced to a more advantageous
4.6 percent through Adams County National Bank.
Twenty-three dumpsters of debris have been removed by volunteers,
much of it from a construction business operated from the site.
A little over a year ago a new farmhouse roof was made possible
through state Sen. Terry Punt and state Rep. Harry Readshaw.
Readshaw also assisted in providing a new furnace.
Restoration on an even greater scale will take place this year,
according to Schue.
The floor joists in the basement will be replaced by Restore
'N More of Manheim, Pa., which did the roof, thanks to a matching
grant with the Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission's
Keystone Grant program.
The grant also will cover restoration or replacement of 19 windows.
The five windows in the front of the house received their matching
money from the Brobyn Family Foundation.
Period back porches will be recreated. Schue says that all that
remains of the original porches is one upright and a portion
of the under-roof of the second-floor porch. Restore 'N More
will do this work, thanks to help from the Keystone Grant.
The grant program also will let the contractor restore the five
exterior doors. Part of the matching funds will come from the
Gettysburg Anniversary Committee and the James Byrd Elementary
School in Shippensburg, Pa.
Schue says, "Both of these groups have supported our efforts
in the past and continue to do so. A teacher tells us the school
children are thrilled at claiming 'ownership' of the front door
to the house."
Floor, woodworking and original farm kitchen restoration also
will be done this year, along with electrical, plumbing, plastering
and painting.
Restoration of the house's stone exterior, funded through a
grant from Rep. Readshaw, will start this summer. As a special
gift, Herr Masonry will donate the time and personnel and GBPA
will provide room and board for the volunteer workers.
The old septic system will be replaced with a new system that
fully complies with codes and ordinances. Senator Punt helped
in the application and approval of those funds.
Structural work will be performed at the barn, with GBPA President
Craig Caba providing instruction to volunteers on re-pointing
stonework on the barn ramp and foundation.
Schue says it is hoped that funds will be available to repair
the barn windows and doors, remove the non-period silo and cinderblock
front, and replace the roof and apply primer and paint.
In addition to the restoration work, Schue says the farm is
undergoing a comprehensive archeological study to help GBPA
better define the farm's role in the history of the Gettysburg
area, from pre-colonial times to the present. The farm is the
last large Confederate site in the North.
Schue says the GBPA considers the Daniel Lady Farm "home."
"Its history and beauty will remain for many generations
to come. The ultimate aim of the organization is to have the
site available as an educational tool. This farm has a story
to tell and we are just beginning to write it."
Donations of time, talent and funds are invited. GBPA may be
reached at (717)
337-0031; www.gbpa.org;
or P.O. Box 4087, Gettysburg, PA 17325.
The GBPA sponsors the annual Book & Ephemera and Civil War
Collectors' Shows. See the ad in this issue for details.
