The James J. Wills Farm: Cultural Landscape Study, Gettysburg National Military Park, National Park Service
John Milner Associates. 1988. The James J. Wills Farm: Cultural Landscape Study, Gettysburg National Military Park, National Park Service. Cultural Landscape Report. NPS Northeast Regional Office. Northeast Regional Office
In 1987 John Milner Associates, Inc. (JMA), in conjunction with the landscape architectural firm of Menke & Menke (M&M), undertook a cultural landscape study of Wills Farm, a property of approximately two hundred acres located within Gettysburg National Military Park in Adams County, Pennsylvania. The National Park Servcie (NPS), which owns Wills Farm in fee simple, initiated this study to develop information useful to long-term decision-making related to the management of the property. The study conducted by JMA and M&M examined Wills Farm as a “landscape.” A landscape is a composition of man-made spaces on the land, it is a contrivance, shaped by premeditated human action, intended to order and define space for human ends. Landscapes are essentially rural, and include a mix of natural and man-made forms, as does Wills Farm. JMA and M&M also examined Wills Farm as a distinct cultural entity, separate from its associations with the Battle of Gettysburg. The Project involved the systematic integration of documentary research in both primary and secondary sources with field observations of the property’s built and natural environments. Changes in field configurations, crop patterns, fencing, roads, and other landscape elements created by human activity defined the physical evolution of the property and determined its integrity as a landscape. Natural features, including topography, watercourses, views, and the nature and extent of woodlots, were also investigated and examined. This work, in conjunction with careful and comprehensive research and investigation of the buildings comprising the farm complex, in both its present and historic states, enabled the Project team to analyze and evaluate the property’s evolution and integrity as a cultural landscape. This report summarizes the results of this investigation, analysis, and evaluation.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- John Milner Associates
- Date of Issue
- 1988
- Publisher
- NPS Northeast Regional Office
- Units
- GETT , NER
- Keywords
- Adams County, Agriculture, bulkhead entrance, Cumberland Township, dwelling house, English plan, Grazing, log barn, outbuildings, Penn, Pennsylvania, red brick, Rural, Streams