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. According to local news outlet Gettysburg Connection, the event included living history presentations, colonial music, self-guided tours and a formal blessing to dedicate the building for another 250 years. The building was completed in the same year the United States declared independence. Rev. Dobbin built it as a family home and classical school. Over the years, it became a tavern, a stop on the Underground Railroad and a field hospital during the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863.
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