Gettysburg Springs Hotel
The Gettysburg Springs Hotel was a Gettysburg Battlefield tourist site in the Battle of Gettysburg, First Day, area. The hotel was on the east side of Herr Ridge at the western terminus of the Gettysburg Spring Railroad and near the Katalysine Springs (originally Lithia Springs)[1] source of "Gettysburg Katalysine Water" sold for therapeutic use.
History
Incorporated by the Commonwealth as the Battle House and Mineral Springs Watering Place Company at Gettysburg on April 12, 1867[2] (Robert G. McCurdy, President),[3] the company leased 210 acres (85 ha) in November 1867 in addition to the original Harmon land.[4] The "Watering Place Hotel"[3] construction started in 1868, furnishings were acquired from New York by June 1, 1869; and the hotel opened on June 28. A lease dispute in April 1869 between the proprietor[5] and the New York and Gettysburg Spring Company resulted in a "forcible entry" at the bottling plant, but the conflict was resolved in time for the hotel to host the distinguished visitors of the first Gettysburg reunion organized that first summer by attorney David McConaughy.[6] Charges at the seasonal opening on May 1, 1870, were $3/day ($15/week) and in 1872, the image of the "Springs Hotel -- Cupola" directional plate was: "Entered according to Act of Congress 1872, by John B. Bachelder, in the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington".[7] The hotel hosted Battle of Gettysburg officers at the hotel in 1882 for John B. Bachelder's survey of the battlefield.[8] The Gettysburg Springs & Hotel Co was organized in 1893 for the 1,200 acres (490 ha).
The masonry dam for the hotel lake north of the Old Mill Road was blown up in 1895,[9] and the 1900 eminent domain jury for United States v. Five Tracts of land was formed[10] to acquire 4 Reynolds Grove tracts of the Land Improvement Co. and the Cunningham Grove tract at Round Top[11] (the hotel company went bankrupt in 1901.)[12] In 1902 the Gettysburg Electric Railway planned to extend westward from Washington Street along the former horse railway to the hotel., but on December 24, 1904, the receivers of the Gettysburg Springs & Hotel Co transferred "four certain parcels of land aggregating" 36.56 acres (14.80 ha) east of the hotel to the United States Department of War[13] which allowed the railbed/wagon road on McPherson Ridge's west slope to be finished (telfordized) as the commemorative era Meredith Avenue (the Pitzer Run section of the railroad no longer has Springs Av). Additional Gettysburg Springs & Hotel tracts were transferred to the War Dept on June 21, 1907, of 360.75 acres (145.99 ha) and on December 18, 1913, of 39.62 acres (16.03 ha), including one near the field of Pickett's Charge);[14] and after private occupancy beginning in 1913, the hotel was demolished by a December 1917 fire.[12] The privately owned area west of Willoughby Run became part of the 1948 Gettysburg Country Club golf course (#2 tee near the springs, which were sealed) until purchased by the National Park Service in 2011.
 photograph in newspaper |
References
- ↑ "Hotel Company" (Google News Archive). The Star and Sentinel. January 22, 1869. Retrieved 2012-01-17.
- ↑ Beitel, Calvin Gustavus (1874). A Digest of Titles of Corporations Chartered by the Legislature… (Google books). J. Campbell & son. Retrieved 2011-11-22.
- 1 2 "Gettysburg: The Fountain of Health". The New York Times. May 26, 1869. Retrieved 2012-01-18.
- ↑ "The Lithia Springs" (Google News Archive). The Star and Sentinel. November 13, 1867. p. 2 (col. 4). Retrieved 2012-01-17.
- ↑ "The Gettysburg Spring Difficulty". The New York Times. April 11, 1869. Retrieved 2012-01-17.
- ↑ "Gettysburg: The Reunon on the Field…". New York Times. August 27, 1869. Retrieved 2011-07-07.
visited the apple orchard, peach orchard, wheatfield, Round Top… The positions of the above-named corps were fixed. … Over one hundred stakes were driven at important points. … and the places where General Sickles, Hancock and Graham were wounded… General Hll…fixed the position…which opened the battle… The hop at the Springs Hotel…netted about $200, which is to be devoted to the Soldiers' Home, near Cemetery Hill.
- ↑ Bachelder, John Badger (1873). Gettysburg. What to see How to see it. (Google books). Retrieved 2011-01-17. (also available at HathiTrust.org)
- ↑ "Town and County: Veteran Reunion" (Google News Archive). Gettysburg Compiler. June 14, 1882. Retrieved 2010-10-23.
- ↑ "Interesting Facts About Fabulous Springs Hotel Resort…" (Google News Archive). The Gettysburg Times. September 10, 1956 (Sesqui Centennial Edition). Retrieved 2012-01-17. Check date values in:
|date=(help) - ↑ United States v. Five Tracts of land (United States Circuit Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania; October 2, 1900). April 20, 1904: "P. M. Bikle…John A. Himes, Kerr Lott…Wm. A. Martin, James F. Bell…John C. Group…and David Maring…have been appointed a jury of viewers to condemn".
- ↑ "Round About Town" (Google News Archive). Gettysburg Compiler. April 20, 1904. Retrieved 2011-02-28.
…John C. Group, of Idaville, and David Maring, of Cumberland township, have been appointed a jury of viewers to condemn five tracts of land on the battlefield, ten acres owned by Mrs. Cunningham near Round Top and four tracts belonging to the Land Improvement Co. near Reynolds Grove along Chambersburg pike.
- 1 2 McIlhenny, Hugh (November 4, 1981). "History of Springs Hotel detailed for local group" (Google News Archive). The Gettysburg Times (Times and News Publishing Company). Retrieved 2011-01-17.
- ↑ Property Deed Books, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania: Adams County Courthouse
Deed tbd Fowler, Henry O., et al (receivers) (December 24, 1904). Deed to [War Department?]. Deed Book #60. pp. 22–30. Retrieved 2011-11-01. - ↑ "Gettysburg National Park". United States military reservations, National cemeteries, and military parks. 1916. Retrieved 2011-04-19.