Tourism Group Adding Lights To Antietam Illumination

SHARPSBURG, Md. (AP) -- A state-sponsored Civil War tourism group is asking travelers to add more lights to the 23,000 that will decorate the Antietam National Battlefield during the traditional illumination on Dec. 5.

The Heart of the Civil War Heritage Area plans to place candles in paper bags on the grounds of the Newcomer House, a 19th-century farmhouse where the Federal army cared for the wounded after the battle on Sept. 17, 1862.

The tourism group runs the house as a visitor center under a cooperative agreement with the National Park Service.

Organizers say people can dedicate a luminary by stopping at the Newcomer House near Sharpsburg, the Visitor Welcome Center in downtown Hagerstown, or the rest stops along Interstate 70 about 10 miles east of Hagerstown.

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