Gettysburg Battlefield Memorial Association

The Gettysburg Battlefield Memorial Association (GBMA) was a historic preservation membership organization and is the eponym for the battlefield's memorial association era. The association was chartered by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on April 13, 1864,^[1]: 202 after attorney David McConaughy recommended on August 14, 1863, a preservation association to sell membership stock for battlefield fundraising.[1] McConaughy transferred his land acquired in 1863 to the GBMA, and the association's boardmembers were initially local officials.^[1] The GBMA sold stock to raise money, hired a superintendent at $1000/yr,[2] added to McConaughy's land holdings, and operated a wooden observation tower on East Cemetery Hill from 1878–95.[3]^[2]

The association granted few exceptions to their requirement for placing memorials only on established lines, e.g., the 1887 plaque commemorating Gen Armistead's farthest advance on July 3 and the 1884 2nd Maryland Infantry monument on Culp's Hill. In 1880, GBMA officers were Grand Army of the Republic members from various states,^[1] by late 1882 GBMA funds were nearly exhausted,^[3]: 4 and by the 1890s the GBMA's roads were in disrepair.