Antietam Tourism

On the 5-year anniversary of the Battle of Antietam in 1867, the Antietam National Cemetery was dedicated on the edge Sharpsburg and the Battlefield site.  The following year, the town of Sharpsburg began an annual Decoration Day parade

Tourists curious about the infamous battlefield began frequenting the town, taking horse-drawn transportation from Hagerstown and Keedysville to visit the site.

When a railroad built through Sharpsburg in 1877, tourism to the site was in such demand that extra wide stone sidewalks were installed from the new railway station, through the town, to the cemetery.  This demand can also be seen in the size of the Antietam Station (now the home of the Hagerstown Model Railroad Museum) which was built in 1911, around the time of the 50th anniversary of the battle, to replace the earlier structure which had been damaged.  Antietam station had a significantly larger waiting room than most other railway stations in the region.

Finally, in 1890, Congress allotted funds to survey and preserve the battlefield.  Over the next few decades the US War Department managed the property and erected monuments.  Other organizations sponsored some of these monuments.

It was around that same time that the first attempt at a trolley company in Boonsboro began.  The South Mountain Railway and Electric Light Company began grading along the edge of what is now Shafer Park to prepare for railroad track, and began construction on a building to house their power plant on the site now occupied by the Trolley Station Museum.  It is claimed that the company was founded to connect the National Road in Boonsboro with Antietam Battlefield.  Little else is known about this company, and construction on both track and power plant was abandoned before any rail was laid.

The battlefield became the property of the National Park Service in 1933, with improvements slowly made over the years.  A visitor center was constructed in 1962 and renovated in 2023.

Today, Antietam National Battlefield remains a National Historic Battlefield under the National Park Service.  In addition to walk-in guests to the visitor center and a driving tour with interpretation and many stops along the tour, larger groups can sign up for ranger interpretation programs and the park website offers many free resources for teachers.

There is a small per-vehicle admission to visit the park.  If any tour groups want to sign up for ranger-led programs or school exemptions for the entrance fee they should contact the park at least a month in advance.