Completed in 1838, the College Edifice (now Pennsylvania Hall) served as the main academic and residential building of Pennsylvania College and was the largest structure in Gettysburg. During the Battle of Gettysburg on July 1, 1863, the Union Signal Corps used its cupola to observe Confederate movements. As fighting intensified, students left their classes to assist the wounded, though many were soon trapped behind Confederate lines. After the battle, Pennsylvania Hall and the surrounding campus became a Confederate hospital and prison site, housing hundreds of wounded soldiers, with surgeries performed on the portico and grounds and the sounds of suffering filling the building for weeks afterward.