Businesses Past...
Cliff Arquette’s Soldiers Museum
by Richard D. L. Fulton
Cliff Arquette’s Soldiers Museum was established in 1959 by its namesake at 777 Baltimore Street, Gettysburg, in a building previously known as the Soldiers’ Orphans Home, located near the entrance to the National Cemetery.
The former Soldiers’ Orphans Home, which had acquired an infamous reputation before its ultimate closure, was purchased by Arquette in the 1950s with the intent to establish a Civil War-themed museum within the old building. Before the structure served as an orphanage, the building had served as a private residence, which was also employed as headquarters for General Oliver Otis Howard during the 1863 Battle of Gettysburg.
Arquette was, of course, a nationally renowned radio and television celebrity as a result of his comedic portrayal of “Charley Weaver,” and his announcement that he was opening a Civil War museum in Gettysburg garnered national attention for him.
An article published in the February 26, 1959, edition of The Gettysburg Times reported that Arquette had stated he’d decided on a move (from California) to Gettysburg to be near the battlefield, Arquette further noting, “My California friends thought I was out of my mind… I sold my place out there, packed up my power tools, and came east.”
He further reported that this relocation to Gettysburg would be “convenient to his trips to New York for the (Jack) Paar show ‘Charley Weaver’ appearances, and for visits to his son, Michael (a film-cutter for New York-based Fox Movietone).”
The February 26, 1959, edition of The Gettysburg Times had also described numerous exhibits to be seen in the newly opened museum, including Arquette’s hand-carved, 12-inch-high wooden figures depicting military uniforms worn by members of the American services, and framed military prints, all of which were accompanied by recorded, patriotic music.
From there, Arquette became a highly visible and outspoken Gettysburg-battlefield activist in the effort to expand the holdings of the Gettysburg National Military Park in order to preserve more battle-related lands.
The Gettysburg Times reported on December 3, 1959, that Arquette had been designated by the Gettysburg Battlefield Preservation Association as a finance chairman to help raise money for acquiring portions of the battlefield that were not yet a part of the park.
An April 28, 1960, article published in the edition of The Times stated that 660 acres of the northern part of the battlefield was then owned by the county, and that Arquette was devoting himself to raising money to buy it. “We need a half million dollars,” he reportedly told The Times, adding, “When we do buy the land, we’re going to turn it over to the federal government to become a permanent part of the battlefield.”
In 1966, Arquette entered into a partnership with LeRoy Smith, according to the issue of May 6, 1966, of The Times, resulting in the name of Cliff Arquette’s Soldiers Museum then being changed to the Charley Weaver American Museum of the Civil War, with the “new” grand-opening having been held on May 11 in that same year.
The museum was also then expanded to include displays of Civil War relics and dioramas depicting battles and episodes of that war.
Arquette died from a heart attack at the age of 68 on September 23, 1974, at the Saint Joseph’s Medical Center in California, according to the September 24, 1974, edition of The New York Times.
The museum had apparently assumed another name, that having been the “Soldiers National Museum,” before finally closing on November 2, 2014, while under the ownership of Matt Felty, president of Gettysburg Tours, Inc.
Felty owns the museum and several other attractions, according to an October 20, 2014, article published by CBS News, which had further noted, “An auction of museum materials will be held on Nov. 21-22.”
