Hunterstown, PA is located on Route 394, 1 mile east of Route 15 near Gettysburg. Route 394 is the modern version of "Black's Gap Road", which was the main east-west road of its day. The Great Conewago Presbyterian Church was formed here in 1740 and the town was founded in 1741. Originally called Woodstock, it was later renamed Hunterstown after David Hunter.
The Grass Hotel was built there in the 1700's. The town had a doctor, blacksmith, shoemaker, watchmaker, undertaker, tailor and wagon builder. It is the second oldest town in Adams County and once vied for county seat.
President George Washington stopped at the Taft Farm and blacksmith shop to have his horse shod when returning to Washington from the Whiskey Rebellion in October 1793.
In the 1800's there were many families that operated chair making businesses in Hunterstown. During the 1830's John C. Studebaker operated a wagon building business between Hunterstown and Heidlersburg, making the Conestoga wagons that were to become famous as America moved west. His descendants later moved to Indiana and used their skills to build the largest company for building wagons and carriages. Their company later produced Studebaker automobiles. A good part of that story can be found here.
In the Civil War, the Felty and Gilbert farms were the scene of a battle on July 2, 1863 between the cavalries of George Custer and Cobb's Georgia Legion, where Custer is said to have narrowly escaped with his life. It is rumored that confederate soldiers were buried on the Felty farm. The Grass Hotel was used as a field headquarters and field hospital during the battle at Gettysburg. The National Park Service has recently (Sept 2006) recognized Hunterstown, known as the North Cavalry Fields, as part of the Gettysburg Campaign. An excellent description of the battle is located here.
In the late 1800's and early 1900's Hunterstown was the headquarters of the Reliance Mining and Milling Corp, a large local employer. Hunterstown was at one time prosperous enough to have a guard unit and a baseball team. Today the village is home to just 100 people.
There is a Hunterstown historical group, their page can be found here.
