May 2016

A visit to the Gettysburg National Military Park is not complete until you visit the Eisenhower Historic Site.  It can only be reached by bus from the Park Visitor Center,  In 1950 Dwight and Mamie Eisenhower purchased the farm next to the Gettysburg Park.

     In 1915 his West Point class toured the battlefield.  In 1918 he was the commander of Camp Colt in Gettysburg.

     The 189 acre farm was not far from Washington DC.  The 1840 house was remodeled and finished in 1955.  It became the weekend White House, as he was president from '53 to '61.  He would bring world leaders from DC to his farm by helicopter.  He and a friend bought 300 acres next to his farm and raised black angus cattle and bred them.

     They retired there and wintered in Palm Springs, California.  Eisenhower painted on canvas for relaxation and did over 200 paintings over 20 years until his death in 1969.  In 1967 the Eisenhowers willed the farm to the National Park Service.  The cattle are still grazing on the farm.