Adams County, Pennsylvania, is located on the famous Mason-Dixon line, the historic border between the old North and South, and was a gateway at the crossroads of some of America's earliest highways. The County seat, Gettysburg, is a short distance from the thriving metropolitan centers of Washington, D.C., Baltimore, and Philadelphia.

Adams County was settled over 300 years ago and has figured prominently in our national history. During the French and Indian War, Indians massacred families in the Gettysburg area, a fact almost forgotten now and overshadowed by the area's pivotal role in the Civil War. The American Civil War began with the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter, SC, on April 12, 1861. By the spring of 1863, war had been raging for over two years, with no end in sight. Several key battles were won early on by the South, but by 1863, the Union had mounted major campaigns in Tennessee and Kentucky.

The commander of the Confederate Army, General Robert E. Lee, believed that a decisive victory on Northern soil might soon end the war, since the larger Union Army held the advantage in a protracted war, but might capitulate with a sudden major Union defeat. Lee was unwilling to attack the more numerous Union forces defending Washington, DC, so he struck at Gettysburg. Fierce fighting raged between July 1 and July 3, 1863. Gettysburg is considered to be the bloodiest battle of the Civil War, and with Lee's defeat came a major turning point in the war, since he lost nearly one-third of his entire army in that battle. Gettysburg was the last attempt by the South to launch a major offensive in the North. Over 8,000 men were killed, over 27,000 were wounded and more than 10,000 were missing after the battle. Although the Civil War raged for another two years, historians believe that the Battle of Gettysburg was the decisive, turning point marking the beginning of the end for the Confederate army.

Today, Gettysburg stands as a monument to Civil War history. The 3,500 acres of the Gettysburg National Military Park, with its 3,000 markers and monuments, and the quiet cemetery where Lincoln gave his moving Gettysburg Address on November 19, 1863, have long been shrines for the American nation and the world. The Park is also host to another public memorial--the home of General Dwight D. Eisenhower, who became the nation's 34th president, and whose farm here was the only home he ever owned.

Today, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania lies at the junction of two major national highways -- U.S. Route 30 and U.S. Route 15. Gettysburg's place at the center of a network of roads, both now and since the early history our country, has made it a crossroads of history for the world.