Our first day started with sign updates across Loudoun and Fauquier Counties in Virginia, updating signs in the path of the early days of the Gettysburg Campaign. From there the team pushed on through Sharpsburg, Maryland and Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, delivering and installing new wayfinding markers to guide visitors to our sites. After a much needed refreshment stop at Pap’s Dairy Dreams outside of Berkeley Springs, we pushed on to Pittsburgh to prepare for an install first thing the next day. We were welcomed to the city with perogies at The Church Brew Works – a restaurant and brewery housed in a late 19th-century church.

Pittsburgh skyline on a July evening.

We started day two bright and early in Carnegie, Pennsylvania, where we installed a brand new sign at the Andrew Carnegie Free Library and Music Hall. This sign tells the story of a remarkable collection of Civil War artifacts and relics collected by veteran members of the Captain Thomas Espy Post of the Grand Army of the Republic. The collection was sealed in a room in the library for decades before being rediscovered in the 1980s and later restored and opened to the public. 

New Civil War Trails marker at the Andrew Carnegie Free Library and Music Hall.

Fueled by treats from Carnegie Coffee, we headed north to the small town of Dayton, Pennsylvania, to install a new sign about a school for children whose fathers were killed or permanently disabled in military service. The Dayton Soldiers’ Orphans School opened in the years immediately following the Civil War and operated until 1888. 

Next we headed south to Gettysburg, where we installed our third and final new sign of the day at the Battlefield Bed and Breakfast Inn. This beautiful B&B stands on what was formerly Houghtelin Farm, where Union troops camped after one of the last major actions of the Battle of Gettysburg.

We ended the day by refreshing a few signs in Carroll County, Maryland en route to Frederick, where we’d be starting our journey the next morning.

Trailblazer leading to the new sign about Houghtelin Farm in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

We started day three with the final new installation for this trip, a new sign just outside of Frederick, Maryland, detailing the defense of Jug Bridge during the 1864 Battle of Monocacy. After departing Frederick, we headed south, repairing, updating, and maintaining 13 CWT sites across Central Maryland and Northern Virginia. The last leg of our journey was fueled by The Pure Pasty Co. in Vienna, Virginia, located right around the corner from our sign at the Freeman Store and Museum.

In total we traveled 1,016 miles across four states during this trip, installing four new signs and updating 20 more along the way. We’re excited to have each of these new sites join the more than 1500 sites across our network for you to explore. Be sure to keep an eye out for new or newly updated CWT sites as you travel, and let us know if you ever need help planning a trip. Chances are we’ve got some local recommendations to make your trip even more memorable!