gettysburg seminary ridge museum

Quiet side of town..young kids, unless history buffs likely will not appreciate it, but if you are a history buff, include it on your tour of Gettysburg

If you are here at Gettysburg for more than a day, stop at the Seminary Ridge Museum. It has some interesting artifacts and you can visit the Cupola (for an extra fee) to see the area where the first days battle occurred. If you are visiting for a day, I would spend my time on the battlefield.

I highly recommend the cupola tour. Even though it was chilly (February), it was well worth it. The museum is very informative and the view from the cupola gives you a first hand visual of the battle. I'm not a civil war fanatic, and I thought it was fantastic. The guides at the museum are great.

Tells a great story of the Battle of Gettysburg. You can almost feel as you are there for the battle and aftermath. A good example of story telling and bringing history to life.Something for the entire family.

This museum was very interesting and the entire family loved it. I definitely would recommend this to others.

The cupola has been renovated and reopened in time for the 150th anniversary last year. I visited the place in August, four weeks after the big celebrations, and was stunned by the view. If you want to understand the opening hours of the battle better, getting up there might help you a great deal.The museum inside the seminar offers some insight into the role of the building during the battle and is a good distraction while you wait for your time slot (the cupola isn't that big and group size is limited).All in all I was glad that I stopped there and visited this place. Last but not least: The folks working there are volunteers (take some time to appreciate that), are very knowledgable and were so helpful. Thank you!

This museum opened in 2013 and deals with both the first day of the battle and the use of the seminary and other buildings as hospitals. The exhibits are set up to appeal to both the casual visitor and the (for lack of a better term) Civil War Nut.

We did this on the second day of our visit, it was the perfect compliment after doing a battlefield tour and stopping at the visitors center.

This place is full of history. We couldn't get enough. The cupola tour made envisioning the battle very real. It's humbling and a bit spooky thinking about how many soldiers were treated and died there. The museum is very well done!

A wonderful new addition to the area. Great exhibits and the chance to trace the steps of Gen. Buford and climb to the cupola to take in the view.

This is a great place to visit and all four floors are filled with interesting and informative diaramas of all stages of the war. If you can take the cupola tour. It gives one a first hand picture of the events of the first day of the battle on July 1. You have a 360 degree view of the entire area and even after seeing many presentations on the History Channel, etc, being there is absolutely without compare.A great place to visit and well worth the extra charge to visit the cupola.

This theological seminary building turned from being a site of instruction to a hospital site for treating some 600 wounded men during the Battle of Gettysburg. Unlike most museum buildings, the Seminary Ridge Museum utilizes the entire building, all four floors, to tell its story and again like other museums, it starts telling its story on the top floor rather than the first floor and has visitors descend from one floor to the next until one is back to the museum entrance. (Had the weather not been so blustery and cold, I would have gone up to the building's copula to see the 360 degree view of the battlefield.)As other reviewers have already said, it is a highly interesting museum with its on unique story to tell of how its position overlooking town made it an ideal reconnaissance site as the first day of battle whirled around it and how it became a hospital for hundreds of wounded and dying soldiers. Its story is told via short videos and audio clips, large artwork and a variety of displays on each floor. The designers of the exhibits give youngsters a hands-on experience of the battle from the view point of children. I want to compliment the Seminary Ridge Historic Preservation Foundation for restoring the original seminary building and using it to tell its story rather than demolishing it and putting up another new building for the Lutheran Theological Seminary's use. They have retained an important building, important to the seminary and important to the Battle of Gettysburg, that enlightens visitors on the horrors of war while providing monetary funds for the seminary. If only other institutions would take this approach to their older buildings instead of demolishing them.

Seminary Ridge provides a unique perspective on the first day of the battle of Gettysburg, and this museum provides one of the most interesting and human perspectives to the battle. Taken over by the North to serve as an observation point, it provided a 360 degree view of the area, the South's advance, and the tactical importance of delaying that advance. Lost to the South on the same day following a battle, the seminary building became a temporary headquarters, and when it was recovered by the North, a hospital. What makes this museum so interesting is that it uses each of the 4 floors to describe a few hours of the events and people involved on the first day and months afterwards. The more than 600 wounded soldiers' names and conditions are recorded and memorialized here, along with the doctors, nurses, nuns, and townspeople. Surgical instruments and the results of the surgery are presented here; some of the photos are not for the faint of heart. Throughout the museum, the caretaker family, especially the two children, are featured for their contributions, but what makes this wonderful for children (and adults) is that many areas focus on children--like a place for children to write letters on behalf of the wounded soldiers, lifting backpacks and guns to get a sense of the weight, or carrying endless buckets of water up the stairs to the upper floors. Videos, photographs, faces, and interesting biographies are found throughout. Go up to the cupola (an extra charge) to get a sense of the importance of the site (and take in an incredible panorama), and don't miss the exhibit below it that shows the same view from a time shortly after the battle. It explains the strategies each side deployed. The museum has preserved the rooms (or painted a wall line on the floor) to give a sense of the crowded conditions. It feels like walking through history. The museum has used diaries and letters of the caretaker's children and people of Gettysburg to ensure authenticity. At the end of the tour is a "classroom" with desks and electronic screens that introduce ethical questions from the time for today's readers to test how they would respond. Great discussion area! Nearby is an exhibit that presents the church writings about slavery--pro and con. Interesting how debates continue to be framed so similarly.Spend time here to feel the human drama, the conditions, what it was like for a family placed in the middle of a battle, and how they handled this situation. You will depart talking about this museum and what you've seen. A must see.

As you likely know, this building was part of the Lutheran seminary that was used as a look out point by Union troops to survey troop movement and then (likely almost any building near the battlefields) a hospital for wounded troops.The museum is relatively small but very well put together and gives you an idea of both the history of the building/school as well medical care in general at that time in relation to the war. Be aware that some of the exhibits are pretty graphic (not over the top or lurid, but realistic). There is also a guided tour available where they will take you up into the cupola itself and give you a recap of the battle's events and being able to see everything really does help you understand who was where, why, and when.

The displays in the museum are creepingly real! You can just begin to imagine the horror of the time following those 3 days in 1863 and the impact on the residents. A must see.