Immediately after the battle, the Dunker Church served as a makeshift hospital for the wounded. It was not used as a proper hospital because it was too small, and it had no supply of water or food. The Dunker Church was used as a place where the wounded could be brought to and evaluated, like modern-day triage.

The Dunker Church continued as a reference point after the battle. It was a common and easy-to-find location to meet and gather for army commanders, soldiers, and for the citizens whose help was now so greatly needed. There is a sketch by Civil War artist Alfred Waud that depicts a truce meeting between the Rebels and the Yankees near the Dunker Church in order to exchange wounded and bury the dead.

The Dunkers moved to a new church on Main Street in Sharpsburg in 1899. After the move, the old whitewashed church on the Antietam battlefield was mostly ignored, it was seldom used and fell into neglect and disrepair. As time went on, the old Dunker Church continued its physical decline. Tourists to the Antietam battlefield sometimes even took bricks home from the church walls as souvenirs.

The physical decline of the battlefield Dunker Church building continued to worsen as time went on. A strong windstorm, or whirlwind as it was described, flattened the church into a pile of rubble on April 24, 1921. The Dunker Church congregation did not have the financial ability to repair the old church. The Dunkers deeded the old church to the Samuel Mumma family, who had originally donated the church’s property to the Dunkers.

The Mummas then sold at auction the Dunker Church property to a Sharpsburg grocer named Elmer Boyer. Boyer salvaged what was left of the Dunker Church building and stored the material in a shed. Boyer then sold the Dunker Church property to Charles Turner.

Turner used the Dunker Church foundation to build a new frame structure. Being an entrepreneur, Turner used his new building during the 1930s and 1940s as a lunch counter and to sell souvenirs. Tourists at the Antietam Battlefield could quench their hunger and thirst by treating themselves to refreshments and food at Turner’s lunch counter. Turner’s efforts were not appreciated.

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John Brown Quotes

Learn Civil War HistoryBy Jonathan R. AllenFeb 02, 2023