The Adams County Historical Society has recently announced it has assumed ownership and management of the iconic Shriver House Museum, located in downtown Gettysburg. Abbie Hoffman is the new Director of the Shriver House Museum and believes that this will help to tell the story from a civilian perspective of life during the Civil War era.

“The Shriver House Museum is dedicated to telling the civilian experience during the Battle of Gettysburg. And what the beauty of the museum is that we take visitors behind the scenes to take them into a home with the family behind the lines during the battle. And we help them view the battle from 1863 through the eyes of just one common family. So, it's kind of a chance for visitors to see things behind the scenes and walk as if a family would have walked.

Del and Nancie Gudmestad were the previous owners of the museum. Their journey began in 1984 when they moved to Gettysburg and opened its first Bed-and-Breakfast, the Old Appleford Inn. Realizing the lack of focus on the town’s 2,400 civilians during the battle, they sold the inn and pursued their dream of telling these stories. In 1996, they purchased the long-abandoned Shriver House and painstakingly restored it to its Civil War appearance.

According to Abbie, the Adams County Historical Society did not have much of a downtown Gettysburg presence. So, when they were approached by the Gudmestads about taking over, it was an opportunity they could not refuse.

“Having a downtown location was of huge interest to us beyond the fact of having this museum which fit perfectly into our mission and things that we're trying to continue on with. So, it was honestly, it was a perfect fit into what we were looking forward to. We weren't really expecting it, but at the same time we were very, very interested and happy to kind of see how that might fit into our plans of expansion over the historical society.”

The Shriver House Museum will reopen on March 1, 2025.