May 22, 2013

Not all Gettysburg’s beautiful farms are tucked away in the fields far from town. In fact, the Culp farm is located just off Middle Street, giving intrepid trekkers the opportunity to go from quaint little-town life to the rural scene in mere minutes. This farm has been made rather famous by the story of local boy Wesley Culp, who, after having lived and worked in Virginia a number of years, decided to join the Confederate Army. Though he didn’t live here, his relatives owned the land, and during the battle it was used by Confederate troops as a hospital.

The Culp Farm is by far one of the prettiest, with a mixture of colors and features that isn’t often seen at Gettysburg. The top photo shows a lovely brick structure with quite a few windows (this must have been a big family!), a quaint and inviting front porch, large and graceful trees, and the typical “Gettysburg fence.” The barn is a large Pennsylvania bank barn and has a few outbuildings, all of which are original. The house and barn were completed by 1850 and so were fairly new when the battle raged. We learned that this land was still being used for farming when we nearly ran into a cow standing casually alongside the tour road. She didn’t seem to be at all bothered by traffic and simply stood looking at us as if to say, ‘What? You’ve never seen a cow before?’ 

**HONORED TODAY**

CPL. WARREN M. PARKER

Co. F, 5^TH New Hampshire Infantry

 

Born January 01, 1845 --- Died July 02, 1863 at age 18

Cpl. Warren’s wartime residence was Keene, New Hampshire. He enlisted in October 1861 at age 16 and was probably killed in Gettysburg’s famous “Wheatfield.” Cpl. Warren is buried at Woodland Cemetery in Keene.


(c) 2013 Skies of Blue and Gray