Welcome remarks were made by Brendon Hanafin, Historic Preservation Division Cheif for the PWCo Department of Public Works; Corey A. Stewart, Chairman, and John T. Stirrup, Jr., Gainsville District Supervisor, PWCo Board of County Supervisors, and a moving key note speech on the importance of Civil War medicine in present-day emergency medical procedures by George Wunderlich, Executive Director of the National Museum of Civil War Medicine.
After the official ribbon cutting, the house was opened to the public for tours. The new exhibits are mostly hands-on furnishings and displays of what the house may have looked like during it's tenure as a hospital for Confederate wounded after the First Battle of Manassas/Bull Run. In addition to the main house built by Benjamin Tasker Chinn circa 1830, Ben Lomond Historic Site includes a lovely old rose garden, smokehouse and dairy, a kitchen garden, and slave quarters.
The grounds are open to the public from sunrise to sunset every day. Tours are offered Thursday through Monday from May 1 through October 31 from 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. or by appointment.
Future events at the site include:
June 12 - Slavery on Sunday Tours (11am - 3pm, $7 per person, free for children under six) - Staff will provide unique hands-on tours and share details about the typical activities of a Sunday for the enslaved community of Ben Lomond.
July 21-24 - Pringle House Hospital 150th Anniversary - (11am - 3pm, $7 per person, free for children under six) - Join site staff and costumed intepreters as the field hospital comes alive once again. Activities include Civil War-era medical demonstrations, making bandages, and civilian life during the war.
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