General Eisenhower's Gettsyburg Farm

General Eisenhower looking after several of his cows at his Gettysburg farm.

Eisenhower National Historic Site

At Eisenhower National Historic Site, visitors can see many of Dwight Eisenhower’s hobbies on display around the property, but perhaps none is more visible than his interest in farming. Interested in soil restoration and conservation, Eisenhower worked with several business partners to farm the land surrounding his property with the intention to “leave the place better than [he] found it.”

After over three decades of moving around as a part of his military service, General Eisenhower and his wife Mamie began to think seriously about finding a place to settle down. In a letter to Mamie in 1943, Ike wrote that he "always picture[d] a little place far away from cities." This dream of a bucolic retirement home led them to purchase a property in Gettysburg, PA, near the home of their friends, George and Mary Allen. The purchase included 189 acres of land, a home, a barn, some outbuildings, farm machinery, and a variety of animals, including about 25 Holstein cows, a dozen heifers, and 500 White Leghorn chickens. Eisenhower was interested in the possibility of restoring the property’s soil and continuing the dairy and chicken operation that the previous owner, the Redding family, had started.

However, just a few weeks after the Eisenhowers signed the lease for their Gettysburg home, General Eisenhower received a call from President Harry Truman, asking him to serve as the Supreme Commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Eisenhower accepted the role and appointed his friend General Arthur Nevins to be the farm manager while he and Mamie were away in Europe. Arthur Nevins and his wife Ann, moved into the home in April 1951 and continued to maintain the Reddings’ dairy and poultry operation, with the help of several hired farmhands. Although Ike was not present on the farm during this time, he maintained frequent correspondence with Nevins to ensure that the farm operations were running smoothly. Eisenhower also expressed a sense of longing for the farm while he was away in Europe, then later at the White House. In a letter to Nevins in September 1951, he wrote that he and Mamie frequently talked of the day when they would settle on the farm and live near their friends in Gettysburg.

Although Eisenhower was already a prominent figure in American society by the time he bought property in Gettysburg in 1950, once he became president, there were greater concerns over his privacy at the farm. One of his friends, W. Alton Jones, the wealthy president of Cities Service Company (now known as CITGO), purchased over 300-acres of land surrounding the Eisenhowers’ property between 1954 and 1955. This land would prove useful for the future of “Eisenhower Farms.”

After a few years of continuing the dairy and poultry operations, Eisenhower and Nevins decided to transition to breeding cattle. The work required to maintain the dairy operation was taxing, and Nevins found it difficult to retain farmhands, who needed to work long hours in order to milk the cows in both the morning and the evening. The poultry operation also turned out to be a lot of work for little profit, and neither Nevins nor Eisenhower particularly cared for chickens. So, in 1954, Eisenhower Farms sold its dairy herd and purchased its first Aberdeen Angus cows.

Eisenhower was interested in breeding high-quality cattle, so the farm invested in its breeding operation. In 1956, they purchased Ankonian 3551 from Ankony Farms in New York. Ankonian 3551 quickly became their most-prized bull, siring numerous cows. In 1957, they built a show barn on land that Jones had purchased in 1954.The farm also hired more herdsmen to help with the show herd, including Bob Hartley. As head herdsman, Hartley was responsible for managing the daily care of the herd, supervising the other farm hands, selecting cattle for show, and traveling to shows. The cattle did well at shows and brought home numerous ribbons, from Grand Champion prizes at the Pennsylvania Farm Show to a Junior Champion ribbon at the International Stock Show in Chicago.

Eisenhower was a “gentleman farmer,” meaning that farming was a hobby, rather than a livelihood. While Ike himself did not actively farm the land, he was involved in its operations and displayed interest in trying the latest farming techniques. Farming was his biggest hobby, and it served as a source of relaxation and distraction from his professional obligations as president. He worked closely with partners to successfully farm the land and raise cattle for over a decade. In addition to raising cattle, they planted crops that were used to feed the cattle. They primarily grew corn, barley, oats, and hay.

Eisenhower understood that years of intensive corn production had depleted the soil of its nutrients, and he was eager to spend time, money, and work to improve the soil health on his farm. He sent soil samples to the Soil Conservation Service annually and made amendments to the soil based on their recommendations. Eisenhower also used other farming techniques to help rebuild the soil and prevent erosion. In addition to using soil amendments, he also implemented techniques like crop rotation and contour farming which helped to replenish nutrients in the soil and prevent erosion.

In 1966, they decided to cease the breeding operation. Eisenhower’s health was declining, and farm labor was becoming more difficult to find and increasingly expensive. Eisenhower Farms sold its herd, earning a revenue of about $90,000, and Hartley retired shortly after.

By the time Ike passed away in 1969, he truly had left a piece of land better than he found it, and today the farm continues to be preserved by the National Park Service, which leases the land to local farmers. Thanks to their hard work, visitors can enjoy the land that Ike loved.