Gettysburg's 250-year-old Dobbin House celebrates milestone with historic events and new museum space

Gettysburg honored the 250th birthday of the Dobbin House, a stone residence built in 1776 by Irish-born Presbyterian minister Reverend Alexander Dobbin, with a public reenactment of its original consecration on August 26, 2026. The event, held at 89 Steinwehr Avenue, offered colonial-era music, living-history presentations and a formal blessing intended to preserve the building for another quarter-century. After falling into disrepair by the 1970s, the property was saved by local couple Jacqueline and Gary White, who restored its foundation, walls, woodwork and seven fireplaces before opening it as a colonial-style tavern in 1978.

The anniversary festivities will continue through the week, culminating on August 29 with the dedication of Dobbin House Square, an outdoor educational park featuring full-size replicas of the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, Bill of Rights, Civil Rights Amendments and the Gettysburg Address, donated by the Forward Foundation. The square will be accessible free of charge at all hours and will host an honor guard, a seven-gun cannon salute, Celtic music and historic film projections onto the stone walls. Today the site also houses the Springhouse Tavern, fine-dining rooms, a ballroom and a bed-and-breakfast, remaining a key attraction near Gettysburg National Cemetery.