Video
Wisler House 3D Tour - Audio Described
Transcript
[00:00:00.00]
A two-story, red brick house with white windows and a white porch sits next to a paved, two-lane road. A low, stone retaining wall supports the porch and house in front.
[00:00:09.59]
[00:00:09.59]
A five-foot tall, tapered stone monument stands at the left edge of the front yard. An inscription reads in part: "First shot at Gettysburg, July 1, 1863."
[00:00:19.22]
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From a position at the monument, facing back toward the house, there's a small attic window at the top of the triangular, gable roof, and white shutters on all the first and second floor windows. The porch rests on the low, stone wall, in front of a small embankment.
[00:00:34.10]
[00:00:34.10]
A white, wooden railing surrounds the covered wooden porch. The floor is painted gray. Two windows flank the front door in the center.
[00:00:40.46]
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Moving through the front door, a large, brick fireplace fills the right-hand wall. Beyond the fireplace, a winding set of stairs leads right to the second floor and attic. The back door is straight ahead.
[00:00:51.34]
[00:00:51.34]
Opposite the fireplace, through a central open doorway, is the parlor. A window at the left opens onto the front porch, beside a second window to the right on the side wall. To the right of the window, a sealed fireplace appears along the base of the side wall. The back wall of the parlor is blank.
[00:01:08.30]
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Moving back into the kitchen, the lath and plaster walls and ceiling are cracked and distressed, covered with wallpaper remnants. The lath is exposed in several places, with a couple small, square cutouts beside the door jambs.
[00:01:20.24]
[00:01:20.24]
Turning left and moving up the narrow staircase, an exposed brick wall shows original and refurbished mortar and brickwork. The stairs continue up and around the hearth to the right to the second floor.
[00:01:32.12]
[00:01:32.12]
Light streams in the two front windows at the left. Holes in the plaster walls and ceiling show the wood lath beneath. At the right, a doorway leads to a second room.
[00:01:41.18]
[00:01:41.18]
Moving into the room, a window at the left looks out over the porch. A second window at the right overlooks the side of the house. In spots, crumbled plaster walls show the courses of brick beneath.
[00:01:52.11]
[00:01:52.11]
Moving back to the stairwell, the stairs continue their winding climb right up to the attic. Fragments of blue-flowered wallpaper with green leaves appear high on the plastered brick walls.
[00:02:05.04]
[00:02:05.04]
In the attic, a few wooden doors, old porch posts, and other old boards lay strewn beneath the bare wooden eaves.
[00:02:12.23]
[00:02:12.23]
Back outside, at the rear of the house, the right side of the home is a solid red brick wall. To the left of the back door is a window with open shutters. On the second floor are two more windows with shutters. A stone walkway leads left away from the door.
[00:02:20.58]
Description
On the morning of July 1, 1863, the 8th Illinois Cavalry established a vidette post at the home and blacksmith shop of Ephraim Wisler. The Wisler house was an ideal location from which to spy any Confederate advance toward Gettysburg down the Chambersburg Pike. Lt. Marcellus E. Jones, who commanded the picket line of the 8th Illinois, fired the first shot of the Battle of Gettysburg from the western yard of the home. This 3D tour allows you to visit "The First Shot House."
Duration
2 minutes, 22 seconds
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