Gettys Crossroads and Tavern
Gettysburg, Adams County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
Here the Shippensburg-Baltimore and the Philadelphia-Pittsburgh Roads crossed. Near the crossroads, stood the tavern of Samuel Gettys. In 1775, troops gathered here for Continental service.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
Before Gettysburg was a name known to the nation, it was a crossroads where the Shippensburg-Baltimore and Philadelphia-Pittsburgh roads met, anchored by the tavern of Samuel Gettys. Taverns at such junctions were the gathering places of colonial life, and in 1775 men mustered here for Continental service as the Revolution began. The Gettys family's crossroads would later lend its name to the town and, eventually, to one of the most famous battles in American history.
Why it matters
It marks the ordinary origins of an extraordinary place, showing how a frontier tavern and road junction seeded a town that would become central to the American story.
Plan your visit
NearbyMake a day of it — museums, food, and places to stay near this marker.
Museums & culture
- The David Wills House Museumnearby · 8 Lincoln Square, Gettysburg, PA
- Ticket to the Past - Unforgettable Journeys0.1 mi away · 35 Carlisle Street, Gettysburg, PA
- Gettysburg Museum of History0.2 mi away · 219 Baltimore Street, Gettysburg, PA
- Shriver House Museum0.3 mi away · 309 Baltimore Street, Gettysburg, PA
- Jennie Wade House Gifts0.5 mi away · 548 Baltimore Street, Gettysburg, PA
- Casteel Sculptures0.6 mi away · 789 Baltimore Street, Gettysburg, PA
Attractions
- John Eisenhower Bridge3.1 mi away · Waterworks Road
- Sachs Covered Bridge3.4 mi away
- Sachs Covered Bridge3.4 mi away · Waterworks Road, Gettysburg, PA
Food & drink
- Chinatown Kitchennearby · 25 York Street, Gettysburg, PA
- Upper Crust Pizzanearby · 19 York Street, Gettysburg, PA
- Borough BBQnearby · 15 York Street, Gettysburg, PA
- Starbucksnearby · 1 Lincoln Square, Gettysburg, PA
- One Lincolnnearby · 1 Lincoln Square, Gettysburg, PA
- Blue & Gray Bar & Grillnearby · 2 Baltimore Street, Gettysburg, PA
Places to stay
- The Brafferton Innnearby · 44 York Street, Gettysburg, PA
- The LaVerne Private Guesthousenearby · 27 York Street, Gettysburg, PA
- The Inn at Lincoln Squarenearby · 12 Lincoln Square, Gettysburg, PA
- Gettysburg Hotelnearby · 1 Lincoln Square, Gettysburg, PA
- The Union Hotel0.1 mi away · 27 Chambersburg Street, Gettysburg, PA
- Tillie Pierce House Inn0.3 mi away · 301 Baltimore Street, Gettysburg, PA
Places data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Hours and details change — call ahead.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · Samuel Gettys
Related events
- · American Revolution
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Sachs Covered Bridge
Freedom Township, PA · est. 1997
David S. Stoner raised Sachs Covered Bridge across Marsh Creek in 1852, using the elegant lattice-truss design patented by Connecticut architect Ithiel Town to span 100 feet of water. Little more than a decade later, both Union and Confederate soldiers crossed its planks during the 1863 Gettysburg Campaign, giving the quiet farm bridge a place in one of the war's most famous chapters. Retired from traffic after 1968 and battered by a 1996 flood, it was lovingly restored by Adams County as a scenic landmark.
Tapeworm Railroad
Hamiltonban Township, PA · est. 1967
In 1836, as Pennsylvania threw itself into a canal-and-railroad building spree, the state chartered a rail line through the rugged Adams County countryside, pushed hard by the young Gettysburg lawyer and future Radical Republican Thaddeus Stevens. Critics mocked its winding route through the hills as the "Tapeworm," and the project—never finished as planned—was put up for sale by 1842. Its abandoned granite viaduct still stands nearby as a monument to an overambitious age of internal improvements.
Pennsylvania
Frederick County, MD · est. 1948
This border marker salutes Pennsylvania, chartered to William Penn in 1681 as a Quaker 'holy experiment' founded on religious tolerance and fair dealing. Penn's colony grew into one of the most prosperous and diverse in British America, its capital of Philadelphia becoming the beating heart of the Revolution. There the Declaration of Independence was adopted in 1776 and the Constitution framed in 1787 — the two documents that gave the United States its birth and its enduring form.
John Studebaker
Tyrone Township, PA · est. 1948
In the 1830s a modest wagon-making shop stood near here, run by John Studebaker before he packed up and joined the great westward migration. His decision seeded a dynasty: in 1852 his sons opened a wagon works in Indiana that grew into the largest maker of horse-drawn vehicles in the world. When the age of the horse gave way to the motorcar, the Studebaker firm made the leap in 1897, becoming one of America's earliest automakers.