David Wills House
Site of the final edits of the Gettysburg Address

Historic Site

Open to the public

Things to do and see
The Lincoln Room Museum in the Willis House is where Abraham Lincoln stayed and completed his Gettysburg Address on November 18, 1863. Through a tape featuring a re-creation of Lincoln speaking his thoughts, doubts, and dreams on that day, you can learn the story behind his words and understand what motivated them.

Museum

Tours, Self-Guided

Location
Lincoln Square
Gettysburg, PA

Contact information
(717) 334-8188

On the Web
http://www.emmitsburg.n...

http://www.gettysburg.c...

David Wills House

This three-story, brick Federal style structure was named after David Wills, a prominent 19th century Gettysburg attorney and county judge.

The Wills House was built about 1816 for Alexander Cobean, a merchant and one of the founding fathers of Adams County and the Bank of Gettysburg, now a branch of PNC. It is believed that the structure was originally intended as a commercial building and not a private dwelling.

At one time, the building housed nine stores of some of the area’s most important merchants. The building has gone through numerous incarnations from a general store to a book and stationary shop. In 1839, it was converted into the American Hotel, a landmark on the “square” of downtown Gettysburg for nearly nine years. The “square” was marked by four houses: the Maxwell-Danner House, The Arnold-Spangler House, the McConaughy-Stoever House and the Wills House each built on opposing corners.

Purchased on April Fool's Day 1859, David Wills used the building as his private home and law office. He built a two-story addition, which for many years, housed the studio of the Tyson Brothers, two of Gettysburg's leading photographers. Their studio was located on the second floor of the "Wills Building."

David Wills will long be remembered as the man who invited President Abraham Lincoln to give “a few appropriate remarks” at the dedication of a cemetery for the Union war dead. Wills hosted President Lincoln in his home on the eve of his Gettysburg Address. It is here, in the Wills House, that Lincoln did the final edits on the 272 word, 2-minute speech that would be heralded as one of his greatest speeches.

In 2004, the NPS purchased the Wills House on Lincoln Square. Plans are nearly complete to convert the dwelling into a museum.

Designations
National Register of Historic Places

David Wills House Site of the final edits of the Gettysburg Address

David Wills House
Site of the final edits of the Gettysburg Address