Gettysburg Heritage Center
Gettysburg
What was old is new again in Gettysburg, a city that has become synonymous with the Civil War battle that raged there for three days in July 1863. Travelers who have visited Gettysburg may remember touring a museum there that presented scenes from the battle with life-size wax figures. Recently, however, the wax museum was upgraded, and it reopened this spring as the Gettysburg Heritage Center.
The change began in 2013 after the retirement of the wax museum’s original owners.
“The new owner decided that the wax museum wouldn’t be sustainable in the long term,” said Gettysburg Heritage Center president Tammy Myers. “We decided to create a new museum experience that would complement what the National Park Service does at the battlefield and not compete. So we decided to tell the civilian story, from the civilian perspective. It’s about the people of Gettysburg, their town and their stories.”
To that end, the museum features a variety of interactive and immersive experiences that are designed to help visitors — especially those who may not be well versed on the tactical aspects of the Civil War — appreciate what it would have been like to live through the Battle of Gettysburg.
“In our cellar experience, we re-create what it would have been like if you had to escape to your cellar for three days of battle,” Myers said. “You walk into a dark basement. We have two windows where videos give you the perspective of looking out onto the streets. You see people’s feet, hear the noise of the guns and the canons, and hear people’s cries. There’s a real element of surprise there.”
The museum also features a “witness tree,” which was alive during the time of the battle, as well as a number of artifacts from the time. Visitors will find a brand-new introductory movie that gives them a battlefield orientation, as well as a few wax figures held over from the old museum.
Groups can also arrange to participate in interactive programming at the museum.
“We have a program called Civil War 101, where individuals can be recruited into the Union army,” Myers said. “Our presenter dresses two members of the group and explains what it was like to be a new recruit. He puts them in alignment and has them do some drills.”
Flight 93 National Memorial
Stonycreek Township
In what would otherwise be an unremarkable field in rural southwestern Pennsylvania, the Flight 93 National Memorial marks the final resting place of 40 courageous crew members and passengers who fought back against terrorist hijackers on September 11, 2001. Though they were not able to keep the plane aloft, they prevented a similarly destructive attack similar to those that hit the Pentagon and the World Trade Center.
The first phase of the memorial opened in 2011 at the 10-year anniversary of the crash and features a plaza with a wall of names and a 17-ton boulder at the crash site. The second phase, which opened this year, includes a new visitors center and learning center.
“The design is unlike anything I have seen in 30 years as a National Park Service employee,” said superintendent Stephen Clark. “The visitors center is tucked between two large masonry walls. There are exhibits in the visitors center, and then a two-and-a-half-mile allee, essentially a trail, that goes down to the plaza and wall of names.
“The state of Pennsylvania donated 450 red maple trees that line the allee. So in a few years, as visitors walk this allee, the canopy will enclose them.”
The third phase of the memorial, scheduled to open in September 2017, will include a 93-foot-high tower with 40 wind chimes that will represent the voices of the passenger and crew members aboard the flight.
