In 1776, a Gettysburg minister built his stone home
Gettysburg’s oldest surviving building, the 1776 Dobbin House, marked its 250th anniversary on Wednesday, 26 August 2026, celebrating two and a half centuries since Irish-born Presbyterian minister Reverend Alexander Dobbin completed the stone home. The anniversary was marked with a public reenactment of Dobbin’s original 1776 consecration ceremony at 89 Steinwehr Avenue. The event included living history presentations, colonial music, self-guided tours and a formal blessing to dedicate the building for another 250 years, according to local news outlet Gettysburg Connection. Over the years, it became a tavern, a stop on the Underground Railroad and a field hospital during the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863. The couple turned the historic home into a colonial-style tavern and restaurant, which opened to the public in 1978. Dobbin’s original 1809 estate inventory. On Saturday, 29 August 2026, a public dedication will mark the opening of three permanent additions to the site, including the new Dobbin House Square.
“By the 1970s, the Dobbin House stood at the brink of loss—weathered, neglected, and facing possible demolition,” said current owner Jacqueline White in historical material published by the Dobbin House Tavern. The square includes full-size settings of the “Charters of Freedom”, featuring permanent replicas of the Declaration of Independence, the United States Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Civil Rights Amendments and the Gettysburg Address. “Dobbin House Square will ensure this historic area continues to inspire future generations with five life-size Charters of Freedom settings,” representatives said in a statement published by Gettysburg Connection.
The building was completed in the same year the United States declared independence. Rev. Dobbin built it as a family home and classical school. The building was saved when local couple Jacqueline and Gary White took over the property in the mid-1970s. They began a major restoration that included strengthening the foundation, repairing the fieldstone walls, restoring hand-carved woodwork and rebuilding seven working fireplaces. The rooms were carefully decorated in an eighteenth-century style, with china and flatware chosen to match historical items found during cellar excavations. Many of the antique furnishings still inside the house are similar to objects listed in Rev. The 250th anniversary celebrations will continue throughout the week. The outdoor educational museum and public gathering space on Steinwehr Avenue will offer free access to historical displays around the clock. The displays were donated through the Forward Foundation. “The park is dedicated to preserving the past while investing in its future. Saturday’s programme will include an honour guard led by the 1st Pennsylvania Volunteer Cavalry Fife & Drum Corps and Spencer’s Additional Continental Regiment. The event will end with a seven-gun cannon salute. Reenactors will present living history programmes during the afternoon, followed by Celtic music performances in the evening and historical films projected onto the stone walls of the house.