History & local legend
Gettysburg's High Street School was built in 1858 and used as a hospital during the Civil War. Tour guide Steve Anderson told a story about a candle that repeatedly appeared in its attic window, beginning with the first tour he led past the building.
A friend who had grown up nearby told Anderson that the light had also been visible during childhood walks to school. The friend remembered seeing it even during a power outage, when the rest of the building was dark.
The explanation passed down with the story concerned a teacher, Mrs. Hall. Her son had gone away with his brother after the battle and never returned, and she supposedly kept a candle burning for him. Anderson later heard a rumor that bones had been discovered. On his next tour past the school, he said, the attic window was dark.
Sources
- Gettysburg tour guide Steve Anderson, first-person account supplied to a student oral-history project, archived November 2004
- The four student editors, their school and research project
- Pennsylvania Heritage, school built 1858 and used as a field hospital after the 1863 battle
- Adams County Historical Society, 1903 street directory: 40 East High, public school; 59 East High, city jail
- Library of Congress, 1886 survey of the public school across from the jail
- Esri, civic address point
