Historic Structure Assessment: Joseph R. Poffenberger House Antietam National Battlefield Sharpsburg, MD

Abstract

The Joseph Poffenberger House at Antietam National Battlefield Park has strong potential to be used as an interpretive element for a proposed program to host overnight guests in battle-era homes. Unfortunately, aside from the battlefield’s National Register Nomination form and a landscape study carried out in 2008, the park managers lack the detailed documentation to guide their planning and to interpret and safeguard the building’s character defining features. Therefore, this report provides a detailed investigation carried out to document the current conditions, define and assess character defining features, and offer recommendations to equip the park with a course of action to provide their prospective guests with suitable and historically accurate accommodations.