Travel back in time with a living historian, dressed in period attire, to learn about the civilian experience during the Battle of Gettysburg. As you move from room to room in this meticulously restored pre-Civil War home, you’ll connect with the stories of George, Hettie, Sadie (7) and Mollie (5) Shriver. You will soon appreciate what life was like before, during, and after the American Civil War.

The Shriver family is one of the oldest and wealthiest families in Gettysburg. To enter their home today is to take a step back in time. View large, beautiful rooms authentically furnished to the mid-1800s to understand what life was like at the time in south-central Pennsylvania. See every room in the house which looks much the way it did in 1863, plus the Confederate sharpshooters’ nest in the attic – where modern forensics confirm eye-witness accounts of soldiers shot and killed. Their tragic story concludes in Shriver’s Saloon in the cellar.

Abandoned for nearly thirty years, the Shrivers’ home was restored in 1996. Hundreds of items which were discovered during the restoration are on display, including live Civil War ammunition, Civil War period medical supplies, and much, much more.

Due to the meticulous restoration, the award-winning Shriver House Museum has been used as a filming site by PBS, The Discovery Channel, The Travel Channel, A&E, HGTV, BBC, CNN, The History Channel and more.

• Built in 1860 as residence for the family and a business for George Shriver: ‘Shriver’s Saloon & Ten-Pin Alley’
• Guided tours conducted by a docent in period attire
• Every room is frozen in time and furnished to its 1860s appearance – from the quilts on the beds (made in Gettysburg in the 1840s) to the apple pie on the kitchen table
• Authentic sharpshooters nest in the attic – where at least two Confederates died
• CSI Detectives used modern forensics to confirm massive pools of blood stains where the Confederates are known to have been shot and killed
• See the devastating aftermath families had to deal with when the soldiers left town
• Live Civil War bullets and medical supplies found during the restoration
• Used as a hospital to tend to some of the thousands of wounded
• Numerous bullet holes scar the brick
• 19th century period garden
• Museum shop

Times may vary when large groups with advance reservations are touring the Museum.

Five Christmases at the Shriver House – Candlelight Christmas Tours

Holiday traditions and celebrations of the 1860s.

Thanksgiving Evening, November 26 through December 19, 2020

Confederates Take the Shriver House: Civilians Caught in the Crossfire

Saturday, July 3, 2021; 5-9 pm

During the battle, Confederate sharpshooters took over the Shrivers’ home. They set up a sharpshooters nest in the attic to fire rifles on the Union troops at the base of Cemetery Hill. Furnishings from the house were used to build a barricade in the street in front of the house which was used to treat the wounded. Learn first-hand what occurred during those three days of horror that terrified the citizens of Gettysburg and how the Shrivers’ home was used during and after the fighting.

• Hettie Shriver took her two girls, Sadie (7) and Mollie (5), and their 15-year-old neighbor, Tillie Pierce, to seek safety outside town only to find themselves deep within the battle lines – at the base of Little Round Top!
• Sharpshooters commandeered Hettie’s abandoned house to fire muskets from the Shrivers’ attic window.
• Beautifully furnished rooms of the house left in ruins by the invading forces.
• Wounded soldiers struggle to survive in a make-shift hospital in the summer kitchen.
• Witness history it actually happened on July 1, 2 & 3, 1863.
• Reservations are currently being accepted by calling 717-337-2800