This is a set of doctor's amputation tools on display at the George Spangler Farm in Gettysburg. The property served as a field hospital during the critical Civil War battle. About 1,800 soldiers were treated there.

PITTSBURGH — A central Pennsylvania farm that was the scene of fierce fighting during the three-day Civil War battle of Gettysburg has reopened to visitors as a foundation and the National Park Service work to restore the battlefield to the way it looked a century and a half ago.

The nonprofit Gettysburg Foundation bought the 80-acre Spangler Farm on the eastern edge of Gettysburg National Military Park in 2008.

Randy Grimsley, a foundation volunteer and guide, said the four buildings on the property were in terrible shape at the time of purchase and restoration work will take another four years or so.

Wheat and oats were growing when the battle raged between North and South on July 1-3, 1863. About 1,800 soldiers were treated at the barn for gunshots and other wounds, and officials say the site is one of the nation's few Civil War field hospitals to resemble its wartime state.

About 185 Union soldiers and 20 Confederate soldiers died in fighting at the farm, including Confederate Gen. Lewis Armistead, who died July 5 of a wound received at the summer kitchen on the property.

After the battle, the Spanglers sought $2,700 reimbursement from the federal government for damage to the farm but ended up getting just $60, foundation volunteer Dan Welch said.

Grimsley said steel cables had to be installed inside the old stone and wood barn to keep it from collapsing, and four feet of manure topped by weeds covered the floor. Other buildings on the property are the stone house, a summer kitchen next to the house and a small wooden smokehouse used to preserve meats.Red-painted plywood has been erected on much of the outside of the barn until a new wooden exterior is finished, pointing with new mortar will go between the large stones of the barn.Workers also had to rip a shed off the side of the barn and a nearby shed used to slaughter deer because they weren't part of the farm at the time of the battle.So far, only the summer kitchen has been fully renovated, the interior floor replaced, the exterior stones repointed and an old metal roof replaced with wooden shingles.Don and Claudia Harmon, who live near Morgantown, W.Va., and were among the first visitors Friday, said they were impressed.“This farm is just so great. It's amazing,” said Don Harmon said. “I really enjoy history and admire the craftsmanship that builders used back then. It's intricate and well done — very impressive.”Michael and Manda Adams, who had driven from their home near Indianapolis, said the guides told them they had feared losing the barn when Hurricane Sandy approached last fall.“They said it wouldn't have lasted if they hadn't stabilized it” with the cables, Michael Adams said.

This is one of the buildings on the George Spangler farm where fierce fighting took place during the Battle of Gettysburg. A foundation bought the property in 2008 and is working with the National Park Service to restore the site to the way it looked in 1863.