B2—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, October 18,1980
Eisenhower Farm
BY SHEILA MILLER
GETTYBURG This past
summer over 80,000 visitors
toured the farm of the for
mer United States President
and General Dwight D.
Eisenhower.
Officially opened on June
14 this past Summer, the 495
acre Adams County
homestead offers the public
a warm and personal insight
into the World War II hero’s
-life.
According to Louise Ar
nold, Park Technician for
the National Park Service,
administrators of the
Eisenhower National
Historic Site, Dwight and
Mamie began looking for a
farm during the late 1940’5.
Ike had always wanted to
own a piece of land.
She related the story of
how on a train ride between
New York and Washington
D.C., Ike bumped into his
friend George Allen, one of
three District Com-
missioners for the nation’s
capital at the time. Allen told
' Ike about a farm be had
purchased recently in the
Gettyburg area and
suggested be look for real
estate there.
Coming to Pennsylvania to
look for a farm was like
coming home for
Eisenhower. His family tree
had branched out from the
Susquehanna River Valley in
the Keystone State, and with
Ike’s grandfather Jacob,
started its spread towards
Texas where Ike was bom in
1890.
After a childhood in the
midwestern state of Kansas,
a formal education at West
Point, and marriage, Ike
moved to Pennsylvania in
1918. He took his first
command at Camp Colt, a
training center for infant
Tank Corps located in
Gettysburg not far from
grandfather Jacob’s first
farm.
Following his retirement
from the Army in 1948,
General Eisenhower and
Mamie were ready to settle
down. When “in 1950” they
purchased the Allen Redding
farm which lies on the edge
of the famous fields where
Pickette led his fatal charge
during the Civil War, the
Eisenhowers had fulfilled
one of Ike’s childhood
dreams.
But, as Arnold explained,
the Eisenhowers didn’t get to
enjoy their retirement very
long. At the request of
President Truman, Ike
became the commander of
the armed forces of the
North Atlantic Treaty
Organization and was later
elected as President from
1952 to 1960.
During the ten years that
slipped by after they pur
chased the farm, the house
was remodeled. Very little of
the original house was kept,
while additional wings were
added.
When the Eisenhowers
returned to their Gettyburg
farm m 1961, their long
awaited home was ready and
waiting for them.
When the Eisenhowers
first purchased the Redding
farm, it was actively being
operated as a dairy farm.
Around 20 head of Holstein
cows contentedly chewed
their cud and produced for
the farm. And in an attached
(Turn to Page B 4)
welcomes thousands
'N • ' ( y
V s ■‘-x* -
The only remaining portion of the original Redding house is the small section
which contains the kitchen. It is sandwiched between two new wings, the stone
section to the right with den and guest rooms and the larger section to the left of
the original chimney
The. poi si id
watched television, ate their meals, and read, ike enjoyed oil painting and he
spent many hours at this easel.
spreads and matchii
Mamie's dressing room mirrors the former first ladies’ personality bottles of
perfumes lined in a stately fashion, pearls cushioned with care, and the love of
her life smiling a top a vividly pink dressing table.
drapes.
i \m6,
SFER3V4=r£W HOLLAIND
Dealer for
Dependable Equipment and
Dependable Service:
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Alexandria. PA
Clapper Farm I
Star Route
814-669-4465
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BMM Farm Equipment, Inc
RD.I
717-867-2211
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Stanley A. Klopp, Inc.
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215-488-1510
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Nelson Farm Supply, Inc
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Clugston Implement, Inc
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Rt 283 - Rheem’s Exit
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RD 9
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400 N Antrim Way
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R D 3, Box 13
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301 734 7722
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291 W Moorestownßd
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N Seneca St
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Box 149
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RD 3
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114-116 East Market Street
215-696-2990
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RD 2, 80x66
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R D 2, Route 273 East
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301-658-5568
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Landing Rds
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