A tale of a two-story building begins with some history of the borough of Gettysburg. With most of the research done by the owners of the “House on the Hill” for their new dwelling, I will like to thank them for the chance to look at the history of the house. With this knowledge and some research of my own, I hope to share with you and them the findings of the house. Let’s dive a little more into the history.
This picture above shows a map of southern portions of the square from 1888. You can see a few numbers on some of the buildings. Let’s reference those first before we continue:
- #3 – Adams County Courthouse at the intersection of Baltimore Street and W. Middle Street
- #9 – Saint Francis Xavier Catholic Church on W. High Street
- Red Box Building – Presbyterian Church
- Purple Line – Georgia and Jennie Wade birth-house
- Blue line and Circle – “House on the Hill”
The information that was provided by Ron and Laura Langdon shows is a brief summary of who owned the property, built the building, and owned it during the battle of Gettysburg and up to the present. Mr. and Mrs. Langdon recently bought the property in the early 2020s and have transformed it into a historical bed and breakfast with the artifacts that they found during their amazing renovations.
The beginning of this story starts almost 100 years prior to this 1888 map. Let’s explore the property at 238 Baltimore Street.