NEWS INFORMATION FROM |
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THE OFFICE OF MAYOR STEPHEN R. REED |
FOR IMMEDIATE USE |
CIVIL WAR TRAILS LEAD TO NATIONAL CIVIL WAR MUSEUM IN HARRISBURG THIS WEEKEND; PUBLIC INVITED TO SERIES OF EVENTS & ACTIVITIESMayor Stephen R. Reed today invited residents and visitors alike to the City of Harrisburg and the National Civil War Museum for a series of special events and activities entitled Civil War Trails Discovery Weekend, which will highlight Harrisburg’s critical role as the “Crossroads of the Union” during the American Civil War (1861-65). Festivities begin this Friday night and run through Sunday evening, September 22 to 24. Reed said the Civil War Trails Discovery Weekend is part of a comprehensive series of events and activities coordinated by the Pennsylvania Tourism Office that includes Pennsylvania’s Civil War communities of Harrisburg, Carlisle, Wrightsville, Columbia, Marietta, York, Hanover, Chambersburg and Gettysburg. The Mayor said the Harrisburg Civil War Trails Discovery Weekend culminates months of activities along the Civil War Trail throughout the Mid- Atlantic and Southern U.S., with Harrisburg appropriately serving as the final destination of the celebration. Harrisburg hosted the largest training camp for Union soldiers during the Civil War and was the key target of Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s foray across the Mason-Dixon Line, with his defeat at Gettysburg preventing the city’s capture. Reed said festivities get underway this Friday evening, September 22, at the National Civil War Museum in Reservoir Park with a special kick-off reception. A “living history” demonstration by the storied “Purcell’s Battery” reenactors will take place on Saturday and Sunday, with visitors able to experience an authentic Civil War artillery battery. Inside the Museum, in addition to its regular galleries, a special exhibition on the Emancipation Proclamation by President Abraham Lincoln will be on display. Elsewhere, the State Museum at N. 3rd and Forster Streets will feature its Civil War Gallery display, with a special exhibition of its Archives Muster Roll Project. Tours of the Pennsylvania Flag Lab will also be offered, on Sunday only. Other venues and events include tours of the Simon Cameron/John Harris Mansion; a Sunday Walking Tour of the Harrisburg Cemetery, where many of the midstate’s most famous Civil War-era personalities are today buried; the Middletown- Hummelstown Railroad Civil War Experience; and self-guided tours of other Harrisburg and West Shore Civil War sites, including Ft. Couch in Lemoyne. The Mayor said most of the events and activities will require tickets for admission, and weekend event organizers have established a special rate of $40 per pair for admission to all of the events and activities. Individual General Admission tickets priced at $10 per person are also available. Special lodging packages have also been established with local hoteliers, with the Harrisburg Hilton and Towers, the Crowne Plaza Hotel and the Comfort Inn Riverfront all participating. The brand new Milestone Bed and Breakfast is also participating, and discounted meals at the Tom Sawyer Diner and Max’s Restaurant in downtown Harrisburg are also being offered. For more information on the Harrisburg Civil War Trails Discovery Weekend please contact the National Civil War Museum at (717) 260.1861, or visit www.VisitPa.com and click on Civil War Trails. |
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