Schmucker Hall old dormitory by CivilWarTrails

Gigapan and Canon G7

The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, is America’s oldest Lutheran Seminary. The institution was founded in 1826 by Samuel Simon Schmucker, a leading Pennsylvania abolitionist, and is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

The seminary gives its name to the geographical feature, Seminary Ridge, which was the site of fierce fighting on the first day of the battle, July 1, 1863. The building, as well as adjacent homes of the professors, was used for weeks after the battle as a temporary field hospital before its last patients were moved to the Camp Letterman military hospital.

Since the Civil War, the Seminary has substantially increased in size, and over a dozen buildings were erected after the war. Scattered throughout the grounds of the Seminary are markers related to the battles, as well as several artillery pieces that approximate the location of several batteries.

The building now houses the Adams County Historical Society.

Panorama by Alan Chaffee Photography