Historians Say No to Gettysburg Slot Machines

Civil War historians are up in arms at the thought that slot machines might come to Gettysburg. More than 100 of them have signed a letter to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board asking them not to approve the slot machine license for the Crossroads Gaming Resort and Spa. The group wants to open a slot machine casino near where one of the most historic battles of our history took place – and people find it outrageous.

The slot machine parlor would be located less than two miles from the Gettysburg National Military Park, which many consider hallowed ground. Gettysburg is the battlefield where 162,500 troops from the North and the South fought, and is considered the turning point of the Civil War – it is also the location where 10,000 American men lost their lives. According to some, to add a slot machine parlor to this area of our nation could be seen as nothing short of blasphemous.

"It is our solemn duty to protect this resource, not squander it through misguided choices," said the letter, which was organized by several groups including the Civil War Preservation Trust. Among the signors was James McPherson, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of "The Battle Cry of Freedom."

The Crossroads Gaming Resort said that the slot machine casino will not be visible from the park’s highest points, and that the portion of the land that they will be building on “played only a peripheral role in the three-day battle.” Nevertheless, with thousands and thousands dead, fighting for one freedom or another, it is not the place for slot machines.

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