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The David Wills House is where President Abraham Lincoln finished up his iconic Gettysburg Address in 1863. He spent the night in the home, then headed over the next day to the Soldiers’ National Cemetery dedication to deliver his immortal two minutes speech to a crowd of 20,000.
Lincoln was invited to the dedication to give “a few appropriate remarks” as an after-thought; it was not expected that he would be able to attend. The real headliner was Edward Everett, a renowned orator who delivered a two-hour speech. Afterwards Everett wrote to Lincoln, “I should be glad if I could flatter myself that I came as near to the central idea of the occasion, in two hours, as you did in two minutes.”
David Wills was a Gettysburg attorney who was heavily involved in the immense clean-up after the Battle of Gettysburg, including proposing the national cemetery.
The park service now operates a small museum in the Willis home. The cover photo is from the museum, showing the layout of the center of Gettysburg when Lincoln came to town.
