Lydia Leister Farm Barn - U.S. Civil War - Gettysburg, PA - Field Hospitals on Waymarking.com

This barn was built in 1800 forty years before the farm house. The 9-acre farm (house and barn) is located on the left or south side of Taneytown Road if traveling east. This is located at the intersection with Hunt Avenue. This small farmstead took on important significance during the Battle of Gettysburg when Union General George Gordon Meade occupied the home and utilized the property as the headquarters for the Army of the Potomac. On the evening of July 2, 1863, General Meade held a famous council of war in the home. The barn is 190 feet due west of the house. There is a typical, blue, metal sign which marks this site as a Civil War hospital. The sign was erected by the Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania & HG-AC in 1983.

In 1888, Mrs. Leister sold the property to the Gettysburg Memorial Association for $3,000. The farm was leased by tenants until 1933 when the National Park Service assumed responsibility for the property and stopped the leasing program. The interior fabric was restored and/or reconstructed at various times after NPS acquisition in 1933.

The Lydia Leister Farm Barn is a contributing feature to the Gettysburg National Military Park Historic District which is nationally significant under NR Criteria A, B, C & D. Areas of Significance: Military, Politics/Government, Landscape Architecture, Conservation, Archeology-Historic. Period of Significance: 1863-1938. The original National Register Nomination was approved by the Keeper March 19, 1975. An update to this nomination was approved by the Keeper on January 23, 2004. The monument is identified as structure number 074.

From the Nomination Form:
This structure is part of a small Pennsylvania historic farm complex that existed during Civil War battle, with a correlated association with Maj.-Gen. Meade's headquarters. The building was located in the rear of the center of the Union battle line. It was used to shelter Union headquarters staff and horses. It later was used as a temporary aid station and field hospital when headquarters was relocated elsewhere. Interior of the barn was slightly modified by War Department in 1890s for storage purposes. The building was restored to its 1870s appearance in 1991-1992.

Short Physical Description:
1-story double pen log plank & frame barn w/ 1 story lean-to addition on S, sided in vertical plank board. With wood shingle-covered gable roof.

Long Physical Description:
The Lydia Leister Farm Barn is a one-story double pen log, plank, and frame building with a one-story lean-to addition on the south. Set on a granite foundation, it has vertical board siding and a wood shingle covered gable roof.