Industrial history of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Encyclopedia
The Industrial history of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
, includes shoemaking and coachbuilding in the 19th century, a copper mine on High Street, furniture making in the early 20th century, and the tourism industry following the July 1863 Battle of Gettysburg
. The borough's railyards were at the junction of the Reading Company
, the Western Maryland Railroad, and the Gettysburg Electric Railway
; and in addition to the government services as the county seat, the Gettysburg College
, the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg
, and the borough's branch of the Harrisburg Area Community College
provide post-secondary education services
.
, sideboard
s, hall racks and washstand
s mainly in oak
). Following Levi Starner's 1902 death, the remaining owners purchased the company in December 1904 ("Gettysburg Furniture Co" in 1912).http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=OTBXYDkIvNoC&dat=19120424&printsec=frontpage&hl=en
The "successor to the Warner Furniture company", was the Engle Furniture Company of Michel Engle which in April 1905 commenced making dresser
s and later added chiffoniers, buffets, sideboards and library
table
s; using oak and mahogany
. The Engle Furniture Company became the Reaser Furniture Company of Clayton S. Reaser in May 1907,http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=yXolAAAAIBAJ&sjid=h_QFAAAAIBAJ&pg=6846,1826424&dq=stouck-reaser&hl=en producing over 40 styles in addition to hand-carved pieces. In May 1917 the joint venture Stouck-Reaser Company filed documents for incorporation to buy, sell and deal in wholesale lumber
products. In 1918, M. C. Jones was "elected manager of both the Reaser and Gettysburg furniture factories to succeed the late Clayton S. Reaser,http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=hkkmAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Lf8FAAAAIBAJ&dq=camp-ritchie&pg=1000%2C2965619 and Henry Cordes was a local furniture designer.http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=hkkmAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Lf8FAAAAIBAJ&dq=camp-ritchie&pg=3329%2C2879291
In 1920 the Gettysburg Panel Company formed to manufacture veneer panels for the other firms. The 1923 borough production totaled almost 71,000 pieces of furniture. In 1927 there were 522 employees in the three plants: 261 in Gettysburg; 153 in Reaser and 108 in Panel. In 1923, the Gettysburg Chair Company was chartered to supply chairs that the local factories needed to complete their bedroom
and dining room
suites.http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=M6xcAAAAIBAJ&sjid=hlgNAAAAIBAJ&pg=2538,2458576&dq=warner-furniture-company&hl=en In November 1951 when the Stouck-Reaser company obtained a permit for a new office building,http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=49slAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ofwFAAAAIBAJ&pg=5757,1794763&dq=stouck-reeser&hl=en the other companies were sold to Sidney G. Rose of Cincinnati. The Gettysburg Furniture Company factory closed in 1960, becoming a warehouse and distribution point for Rose's other furniture factories outside Pennsylvania.
A facility of the Dolly Madison Industries, Furniture Division, was located in Gettysburg in 1966.http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=bUwmAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Gf8FAAAAIBAJ&pg=2481,901362&dq=dolly-madison-industries+gettysburg&hl=en
, as well as a construction industry for hotels, stables, and other buildings for tourist services. Early tourist buildings in the borough included museums (e.g., 1881 Danner museum), souvenir shops, buildings of the electric trolley
(preceded by a horse trolley from the Gettysburg Railroad Station
to the Springs Hotel), and stands for hackmen who drove visitors in jitneys (horse-drawn group taxis) on tours. Modern tourist services in the borough include ghost tours, bed and breakfast lodging, and historical interpretation (reenactors, etc.).
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Gettysburg is a borough that is the county seat, part of the Gettysburg Battlefield, and the eponym for the 1863 Battle of Gettysburg. The town hosts visitors to the Gettysburg National Military Park and has 3 institutions of higher learning: Lutheran Theological Seminary, Gettysburg College, and...
, includes shoemaking and coachbuilding in the 19th century, a copper mine on High Street, furniture making in the early 20th century, and the tourism industry following the July 1863 Battle of Gettysburg
Battle of Gettysburg
The Battle of Gettysburg , was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The battle with the largest number of casualties in the American Civil War, it is often described as the war's turning point. Union Maj. Gen. George Gordon Meade's Army of the Potomac...
. The borough's railyards were at the junction of the Reading Company
Reading Company
The Reading Company , usually called the Reading Railroad, officially the Philadelphia and Reading Rail Road and then the Philadelphia and Reading Railway until 1924, operated in southeast Pennsylvania and neighboring states...
, the Western Maryland Railroad, and the Gettysburg Electric Railway
Gettysburg Electric Railway
The Gettysburg Electric Railway was a borough trolley that provided summer access to Gettysburg Battlefield visitor attractions such as military engagement areas, monuments, postbellum camps, and recreation areas...
; and in addition to the government services as the county seat, the Gettysburg College
Gettysburg College
Gettysburg College is a private four-year liberal arts college founded in 1832, in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, United States, adjacent to the famous battlefield. Its athletic teams are nicknamed the Bullets. Gettysburg College has about 2,700 students, with roughly equal numbers of men and women...
, the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg
Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg
The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg is America's oldest Lutheran seminary and a site of 1863 Battle of Gettysburg military engagements.-History:...
, and the borough's branch of the Harrisburg Area Community College
Harrisburg Area Community College
HACC, Central Pennsylvania's Community College is a community college in the United States serving the greater Harrisburg, Pennsylvania metropolitan area. HACC is accredited by the Commission on Higher Education of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools...
provide post-secondary education services
Higher education
Higher, post-secondary, tertiary, or third level education refers to the stage of learning that occurs at universities, academies, colleges, seminaries, and institutes of technology...
.
Furniture
In July 1902, "John M. Warner, John Kimple, Louis Mitzell, Levi Starner, Chas. S. Duncan, Charles Emory and David M. Wolf" to start the Gettysburg Manufacturing Company which manufactured eight or more furniture styles (e.g., buffetsSideboard
A sideboard is an item of furniture traditionally used in the dining room for serving food, for displaying serving dishes such as silver, and for storage. It usually consists of a set of cabinets, or cupboards, and one or more drawers, all topped by a flat display surface for conveniently holding...
, sideboard
Sideboard
A sideboard is an item of furniture traditionally used in the dining room for serving food, for displaying serving dishes such as silver, and for storage. It usually consists of a set of cabinets, or cupboards, and one or more drawers, all topped by a flat display surface for conveniently holding...
s, hall racks and washstand
Washstand
A washstand is a table or stand containing conveniences for washing oneself.- Ancient Greece:In his Pneumatics, Philo of Byzantium, a Greek engineer and writer on mechanics, describes an escapement mechanism, the earliest known, as part of a washstand...
s mainly in oak
Oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...
). Following Levi Starner's 1902 death, the remaining owners purchased the company in December 1904 ("Gettysburg Furniture Co" in 1912).http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=OTBXYDkIvNoC&dat=19120424&printsec=frontpage&hl=en
The "successor to the Warner Furniture company", was the Engle Furniture Company of Michel Engle which in April 1905 commenced making dresser
Chest of drawers
A chest of drawers, also called a dresser or a bureau, is a piece of furniture that has multiple parallel, horizontal drawers stacked one above another...
s and later added chiffoniers, buffets, sideboards and library
Library
In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...
table
Table (furniture)
A table is a form of furniture with a flat and satisfactory horizontal upper surface used to support objects of interest, for storage, show, and/or manipulation...
s; using oak and mahogany
Mahogany
The name mahogany is used when referring to numerous varieties of dark-colored hardwood. It is a native American word originally used for the wood of the species Swietenia mahagoni, known as West Indian or Cuban mahogany....
. The Engle Furniture Company became the Reaser Furniture Company of Clayton S. Reaser in May 1907,http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=yXolAAAAIBAJ&sjid=h_QFAAAAIBAJ&pg=6846,1826424&dq=stouck-reaser&hl=en producing over 40 styles in addition to hand-carved pieces. In May 1917 the joint venture Stouck-Reaser Company filed documents for incorporation to buy, sell and deal in wholesale lumber
Lumber
Lumber or timber is wood in any of its stages from felling through readiness for use as structural material for construction, or wood pulp for paper production....
products. In 1918, M. C. Jones was "elected manager of both the Reaser and Gettysburg furniture factories to succeed the late Clayton S. Reaser,http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=hkkmAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Lf8FAAAAIBAJ&dq=camp-ritchie&pg=1000%2C2965619 and Henry Cordes was a local furniture designer.http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=hkkmAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Lf8FAAAAIBAJ&dq=camp-ritchie&pg=3329%2C2879291
In 1920 the Gettysburg Panel Company formed to manufacture veneer panels for the other firms. The 1923 borough production totaled almost 71,000 pieces of furniture. In 1927 there were 522 employees in the three plants: 261 in Gettysburg; 153 in Reaser and 108 in Panel. In 1923, the Gettysburg Chair Company was chartered to supply chairs that the local factories needed to complete their bedroom
Bedroom
A bedroom is a private room where people usually sleep for the night or relax during the day.About one third of our lives are spent sleeping and most of the time we are asleep, we are sleeping in a bedroom. To be considered a bedroom the room needs to have bed. Bedrooms can range from really simple...
and dining room
Dining room
A dining room is a room for consuming food. In modern times it is usually adjacent to the kitchen for convenience in serving, although in medieval times it was often on an entirely different floor level...
suites.http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=M6xcAAAAIBAJ&sjid=hlgNAAAAIBAJ&pg=2538,2458576&dq=warner-furniture-company&hl=en In November 1951 when the Stouck-Reaser company obtained a permit for a new office building,http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=49slAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ofwFAAAAIBAJ&pg=5757,1794763&dq=stouck-reeser&hl=en the other companies were sold to Sidney G. Rose of Cincinnati. The Gettysburg Furniture Company factory closed in 1960, becoming a warehouse and distribution point for Rose's other furniture factories outside Pennsylvania.
A facility of the Dolly Madison Industries, Furniture Division, was located in Gettysburg in 1966.http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=bUwmAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Gf8FAAAAIBAJ&pg=2481,901362&dq=dolly-madison-industries+gettysburg&hl=en
Tourism
Gettysburg manufacturing associated with tourism included a late 19th century foundry that created gun carriages and bridgeworks for the Gettysburg BattlefieldGettysburg Battlefield
The Gettysburg Battlefield is the area of the July 1–3, 1863, military engagements of the Battle of Gettysburg within and around the borough of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Locations of military engagements extend from the 4 acre site of the first shot & at on the west of the borough, to East...
, as well as a construction industry for hotels, stables, and other buildings for tourist services. Early tourist buildings in the borough included museums (e.g., 1881 Danner museum), souvenir shops, buildings of the electric trolley
Gettysburg Electric Railway
The Gettysburg Electric Railway was a borough trolley that provided summer access to Gettysburg Battlefield visitor attractions such as military engagement areas, monuments, postbellum camps, and recreation areas...
(preceded by a horse trolley from the Gettysburg Railroad Station
Gettysburg Railroad Station
-American Civil War:Train service to the depot was stopped when Jubal Early's Confederates burned the Rock Creek trestle on June 27, 1863. The depot's telegrapher, a young daughter of "Mr...
to the Springs Hotel), and stands for hackmen who drove visitors in jitneys (horse-drawn group taxis) on tours. Modern tourist services in the borough include ghost tours, bed and breakfast lodging, and historical interpretation (reenactors, etc.).