The town of Gettysburg is located in the eastern foothills of the Allegheny Mountains, in the midst of Adams County farmland, about 35 miles south-west of Harrisburg. It was founded about 1786 by James Getty. At the time of the battle it was a bustling commercial center and county seat, boasting several hotels & taverns, a thriving carriage manufacturing industry, a railroad depot, a courthouse, a college and the Lutheran Theological Seminary.
At the time of the battle in July of 1863, there were about 2,400 people (including 190 African Americans) in its environs.
In the decades before the war, the town had been a stop on the Underground Railroad.
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