Highway Headquarters - Gettysburg, PA - Signs of History on Waymarking.com

This sign is found in front of the Quality Inn, roadside to the Lincoln Highway. Next to it (100 feet away or so) is the site of General Lee's headquarters during the Battle of Gettysburg. The sign reads:

General Robert E. Lee and his staff planned one of America's greatest battles at this site. Almost a century later the site began offering overnight accommodations to travelers coming to pay homage to their heroes.

Gutted by fire in 1896, the rebuilt house (owned by Clyde F. Daley) was converted to a souvenir shop and museum. Next door to "Lee's Headquarters," the home (owned by Eric and Sarah Larson) was converted to a tourist home. With the increased visitation to Gettysburg, especially for the 75th Anniversary and Reunion in 1938, Daley and the Larsons constructed cottages, two of many tourist camps that sprang up along the Lincoln Highway. Lee's Headquarters camp offered seven cabins. Each had a bath, shower, steam heat, and beds with innerspring mattresses for $1 to $4 a night.

In 1945, the Larsons purchased Lee's Headquarters property from Daley and over the years made numerous improvements. The resulting motel eventually became affiliated with the Quality Inn motel/hotel chain.

The vintage is painted with bright colors. There are portraits painted of Civil War officers (Union & Confederate sides I think). One is of Lt. Col. Rufus R. Dawes 6th Wisconsin. A confederate soldier is on the side. The top part of the pump has one of those circular, bubble sign holders, only this one is painted over with a profiled portrait of Lincoln. A plaque at the base of the pump reads "Gettysburg Square and Monuments" By Carol Miller. This Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor project was funded in part by the Department of Conversation and Natural Resources, a Federal Transportation Enhancement Award, and Heritage Works in Westsylvania. There are many of these gas pumps along the Lincoln Highway route.