Our History
In 1787, John Troxell bought the plot of land this hotel sits upon from Gettysburg founder James Gettys. In 1804–the very same year that Lewis and Clark began their epic journey–a local entrepreneur named George Welsh opened the Sign of the Buck tavern and roadhouse to accommodate those traveling to the western frontier of Pennsylvania and the wilds beyond.
By 1863, Gettysburg was a bustling town of 2,400 that few could have predicted would become a household name. Indeed, the events that transpired here that July forever changed the course of Gettysburg’s history—and the nation’s history. The hotel was known as the Union Hotel around the time that war came to Gettysburg’s door and, like every public building in the borough, it served as a hospital for wounded soldiers as the smoke cleared in town. Though it wasn’t called the Union Hotel for long back then, the owners thought that among the many names the hotel has had over its 200-plus-year history, this one fit their vision best.
By 1863, Gettysburg was a bustling town of 2,400 that few could have predicted would become a household name. Indeed, the events that transpired here that July forever changed the course of Gettysburg’s history—and the nation’s history. The hotel was known as the Union Hotel around the time that war came to Gettysburg’s door and the building served as a hospital for wounded soldiers as the smoke cleared in town. Though it wasn’t called the Union Hotel for long back then, the new owners thought that among the many names the hotel has had over its 200-plus-year history, this one fit their vision best. “Gettysburg was a Union town then and it’s a Union town now,” owner Leslie Trew Magraw says. “We should all be striving to live up to the ideals that Gettysburg—with Lincoln’s famous address—was destined to become a symbol for: peace and reconciliation.”
“Gettysburg was a Union town then and it’s a Union town now. We should all be striving to live up to the ideals that Gettysburg—with Lincoln’s famous address—was destined to become a symbol for: peace and reconciliation.”
– Union Hotel Owner Leslie Trew Magraw
In 1888, a third and fourth floor were added to the hotel—then named the City Hotel—in order to accommodate veterans of the Civil War who returned to Gettysburg for the 25th anniversary of the battle. Throughout the 20th century, the building has been used for a variety of purposes—including a hotel, boarding house, apartment building, and youth hostel—and at one time or another has housed a tavern, pharmacy, barbershop, bowling alley, and art gallery on the first floor.
Local couple Leslie Trew Magraw and Andrew Johnson bought the James Gettys Hotel in August 2019 and started renovating it soon thereafter. Though they could have never guessed that a global pandemic was around the corner, it turns out 2020 was an ideal time to bring new life to this historic hotel. In April 2021, after working to revitalize the property, floor by floor, without an interruption in service, they officially unveiled the Union Hotel to the public.When Lord Nelson’s, an art gallery that occupied the first floor of the building for more than three decades, relocated a few doors down in the spring of 2021, the owners began plans to develop a restaurant and tavern in its place. After a two-year, floor-to-ceiling refurbishment, the Sign of the Buck–Gettysburg’s premier farm-to-table restaurant–debuted in the summer of 2023, bringing the property full circle to its 1804 roots.