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29-788: In 2008, the museum closed to the public in anticipation of a move to other quarters. In June 2016, the museum announced that ownership of its collection of about 3,000 artifacts would transfer to the Gettysburg Museum and Visitor Center , "the non-profit partner of the National Park Service at Gettysburg." Artifacts from the collection will continue to be displayed in Philadelphia at the National Constitution Center . Books, archives, and other two-dimensional material will continue to be owned by

58-493: A "computer resource room", a bookstore with gifts, and a restaurant. One of the first Gettysburg museums displayed the J Albertus Danner collection of artifacts in 1881. In 1894 the Gettysburg Cyclorama was displayed in a tent at The Angle Groundbreaking for a building on Cemetery Hill occurred in 1912. The 1888–1964 Round Top Museum and the 1921–2008 Gettysburg National Museum were both acquired by

87-520: A buyer in Manassas, Virginia . The local paper lifted this editorial from The Suffolk News-Herald . In announcing the sale, the editor mourned Fredericksburg's loss of the collection. The master collection belonged in Fredericksburg and there it should have remained. These relics will be of immense value historically and intrinsically no matter where they are but they will fit nowhere like in

116-657: A large collection of artifacts that the Richards's offered for sale did not appeal to Arquette. He instead passed the letter on to his friend, George D. Rosensteel, IV of Gettysburg's National Museum. The Rosensteel family began collecting artifacts associated with the Battle of Gettysburg almost as soon as the smoke cleared from the battlefield. In 1921, George D. Rosensteel, IV opened the Gettysburg National Museum along Taneytown Road , directly across from

145-527: A local buyer for the collection, but neither the National Park Service nor the City of Fredericksburg opted to purchase the artifacts. With his passing, Chewning's widow and son inherited the collection. They, however, did find a buyer. The April 30, 1938 edition of The Free Lance-Star carried an editorial entitled "Fredericksburg Loses." The column announced the sale of the Chewning Collection to

174-561: Is a Gettysburg National Military Park facility, with a museum about the American Civil War , the 1884 Gettysburg Cyclorama , and the tour center for licensed Battlefield Guides and for buses to see the Gettysburg Battlefield and Eisenhower National Historic Site . The museum displays artifacts, including cannon, firearms, and uniforms, and includes an exhibit gallery and theater. Additional facilities are

203-467: The Frankford neighborhood of Philadelphia, which had loaned it to the museum in 1979. In addition to a large portrait and artifacts associated with General Meade, the museum's collection included personal items from other U.S. generals, including Ulysses S. Grant , John F. Reynolds , and George B. McClellan . The collection also included a large number of military escutcheons , which were made in

232-578: The National Park Service after the 1963 battle anniversary. During the post-WWII increase of tourism, Mission 66 improvements for the NPS 50th anniversary included the construction of the modernist Cyclorama Building at Gettysburg , designed by Richard Neutra , as the first NPS visitor center for the battlefield. It opened in 1962. Plans in 1973 for a projected tourist increase included an Oak Ridge visitor center and an Eisenhower Parkway on

261-663: The National Park Service to withdraw its offer to use the First Bank building. The museum displayed the mounted head of " Old Baldy ", the horse that was ridden by U.S. [[ Major general (United States)|Major General]] George G. Meade during most of the Civil War. Old Baldy's head was mounted in 1882 and restored in 1991. In 2010, it was returned to its owner, the Grand Army of the Republic Museum and Library in

290-560: The Stonewall Jackson amputation table. Mrs. Richards later stated that the collection's storage during the war dealt a blow to the collection's provenance. "During its storage," she claimed, "many of the papers were lost, destroyed or stolen, including a complete file on each item and its description and identity." Nonetheless, The Vicksburg Sunday Post Herald reported that Richards "can provide an interesting story about almost every object." It's possible that Richards sold some of

319-588: The 1974–2008 Gettysburg National Military Park museum and visitor center after the Cyclorama Building at Gettysburg and before the Gettysburg Museum and Visitor Center . In 1929, Dr. William J. Chewning, having amassed over 100,000 Civil War artifacts, opened The National Battlefield Museum in Fredericksburg, Virginia . This private museum operated under his direction from 1929 until his death in 1937. In his final years, Chewning tried to find

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348-606: The Civil War Museum and are available to researchers at the Heritage Center of the Union League of Philadelphia . While closed, the collection was stored at the Gettysburg Museum and Visitor Center , where material from the collection was displayed from 2013 to 2015. On August 7, 2007, the museum announced that it would relocate from 1805 Pine Street near Rittenhouse Square to the former First Bank of

377-494: The Gettysburg National Cemetery. He actively tracked down artifacts related to the battle and the Civil War and built for himself an impressive collection. The Richards's asked $ 60,000 for their collection, but George appears to have been quite a negotiator as he was able to talk the Richards's down in price. On June 15, 1961, the Richards's sold the contents of their museum, which numbered 60,000 items, to

406-406: The Gettysburg National Museum, Inc. for $ 30,000 – half the asking price. The Rosensteels maintained their museum for another ten years following the purchase from Richards, but in 1971 the family that had been collecting Civil War artifacts for over a century chose to sell. The new steward was the National Park Service in 1967. Over 89,000 artifacts and the museum building passed into the hands of

435-537: The United States building near Independence Hall . Philadelphia Mayor John F. Street presented the museum with a check for $ 1.2 million to assist in its relocation. On August 2, 2008, the Pine Street location permanently closed and the museum planned to reopen in its new location in 2011. In 2009, Governor Ed Rendell canceled the state's portion of the funding needed to relocate the museum, prompting

464-500: The United States from the end of the Civil War until about 1907. They resembled a coat of arms and depicted the military record of a veteran. Usually commissioned by the veteran or his family to memorialize his service, they were produced by an artist using chromolithography . The museum had items pertaining to Abraham Lincoln , including a cast of his hands, a lock of hair , and a death mask . Gettysburg Museum and Visitor Center The Gettysburg Museum and Visitor Center

493-475: The battlefield and Richards ultimately put the collection into storage. The end of the war brought its own concerns for the museum. Construction of the National Park Service museum and administrative building at Manassas in 1945 created competition for Richards. Hoping to find a more suitable location, he took his collection and moved it to another Civil War site. Whereas the Chewnings always fretted about keeping

522-514: The collection around this time, as the paper reported the museum contained 60,000 relics, whereas it had been reported that he obtained 100,000 artifacts from the Chewnings. Regardless of its size, the museum remained in Vicksburg for about seven years before Richards once again hit the road. The collection's destination after Vicksburg remains a little uncertain. California newspaper announcements from 1957 indicate that Richards intended to reopen

551-417: The collection close to its origin, Richards opted to move it out of Virginia. Vicksburg, Mississippi proved to be the new home for The National Battlefield Museum. Vicksburg's role in the Civil War, Richards admitted, made it a natural location for his business. The museum sat at 4005 Washington Street and the local newspaper referred to it as "a mecca for tourists." The centerpiece of the collection remained

580-410: The collection leave Fredericksburg, neither did his family. With no local buyers, however, keeping the collection in the community proved impossible. Julius T. Richards of Manassas, Virginia became the new owner of the massive collection. In announcing the transaction, The Fauquier Democrat described the disappointment the Chewnings felt in selling the artifacts out of Fredericksburg: In announcing

609-621: The collection to Florida. Either way, by 1960 the National Civil War Museum sat along the Suwannee River in Old Town, Florida . As the years advanced, Richards and his wife took less and less interest in the collection. Richard suffered a heart attack and he and his wife contemplated the future of the museum and its contents. A waning interest in the artifacts, coupled with ailing health, the Richards decided to sell

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638-666: The collection. On December 12, 1960, the Richards's wrote a letter to entertainer and television personality Cliff Arquette . Known for his comedic character "Charley Weaver," Arquette also pursued a strong interest in Civil War history. He combined those interests in 1959 when he opened Cliff Arquette's Soldiers Museum (later Charley Weaver's American Museum of the Civil War) in Gettysburg. The museum stood along Baltimore Street on Cemetery Hill and displayed Civil War dioramas and figurines created by Arquette. The notion of buying such

667-462: The museum in Santa Cruz. A brochure exists for The National Civil War Museum of Santa Cruz that lists Richards as the owner. However, a 1961 Florida newspaper article about Richards states that he moved the collection to that state in 1957. Perhaps Richards intended to open the museum in Santa Cruz, but never quite made the move. Maybe he did go to California only to immediately turn around and take

696-464: The place of their origin. We have no hesitancy in saying that this collection should be acquired by the Federal government and made more accessible to the public. It is in many respects educational. Fredericksburg has lost a rare chance to capitalize it along with its sacred shrines. But that city's loss is Manassas' gain. The place that gets it has something. Just as Dr. Chewning had not wanted to see

725-448: The relics. An additional $ 3,000 went into the exhibits that covered 180 square feet (17 m ) of wall space. The museum stood along Lee Highway (State Route 29) to the east of the famous Stone Bridge along Bull Run. Richards retained the name The National Battlefield Museum and opened his business on May 8, 1938. Unfortunately for Richards, hopes for a thriving tourism business proved fleeting. World War Two greatly affected tourism to

754-580: The removal of the collection from Fredericksburg, she is 'happy to know' that it will be permanently in Virginia. Florida native Julius T. Richards was a commission merchant in Washington, D.C. A Marine Corps veteran of World War One , Richards also collected Civil War artifacts. He added the Chewning artifacts to his own collection and built a $ 20,000 museum on the Manassas battlefield to display

783-557: The sale Mr. Chewning stated that both he and his mother, Mrs. Anne Page Chewning, regretted the necessity of depriving Fredericksburg of this rare collection. No prospective purchasers who would keep the museum in Fredericksburg could be located. Mr. Chewning added that Fredericksburg had made no attempt to acquire the collection and, in fact, 'had evidenced little real interest in it.' For these reasons, he said, he and Mrs. Chewning deemed it advisable to accept Mr. Richards' 'highly attractive proposition. Mrs. Chewning said that while she regrets

812-446: The west. Neither was built nor was an Appalachian Trail spur to the battlefield considered in 1982. The Gettysburg National Museum became the visitor center in 1974. There were technology and sewer improvements in 1995. The building was demolished in 2008 after the new Gettysburg Museum and Visitor Center was completed. The new building now displays the restored Gettysburg Cyclorama . The landmark 1962 Cyclorama Building by Neutra

841-551: Was demolished in February 2013. Gettysburg National Museum The Gettysburg National Museum was a Gettysburg Battlefield visitor attraction on the south border of the Gettysburg borough . Established by George D. Rosensteel after working at his uncle's 1888 Round Top Museum , the facility had an interpretive Battle of Gettysburg map using incandescent lights and was acquired by the National Park Service for use as

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