The Historic Best Western Gettysburg Hotel has a tradition of hospitality that dates to 1797, when James Scott first opened his tavern. In the summer of 1863, the hotel played witness to one of the seminal events in American history as Union and Confederate troops swarmed over the small town of Gettysburg during a pivotal and bloody three-day battle. President Lincoln honed the immortal words of his Gettysburg Address at the Wills House, just steps away from the hotel. Nearly a century later, at the height of the Cold War, the hotel served as President Dwight Eisenhower's national operations center while he recuperated from a heart attack at his nearby farm. A victim of post-war changes in America's traveling habits, the Gettysburg Hotel closed its doors in 1964. After a careful and detailed restoration, the Historic Best Western Gettysburg Hotel once again welcomes guests to share its rich legacy.