An 80-acre tract at what was once the logistical center of the Union line during the Battle of Gettysburg has been purchased by the Gettysburg Foundation.

The purchase means the George Spangler Farm, which lies within the boundaries of the Gettysburg National Military Park, will be preserved and protected from private development.

Preservation groups have long had the Spangler Farm on a list of priorities for land acquisition within the park, though spokeswoman Dru Anne Neil said she did not know for how long the Gettysburg Foundation had been trying to obtain the land.

"This was a significant parcel, primarily because of what had happened there," Neil said.

The farm -- bounded by Granite Schoolhouse Lane and Blacksmith Shop Road, between Taneytown Road and Baltimore Pike -- was the site of a field hospital that treated both Union and Confederate soldiers during the battle.

Confederate Gen. Lewis Armistead died there of the wounds he suffered at the High Water Mark on July 3 during Pickett's Charge.

Union commanders also selected the farm as its closest and most important artillery- and ammunition-support facility, a decision that contributed to why the Union Army was able to hold the high ground on July 2 and achieve victory on July 3.

Former owners Ronald, Richard and Clarence Andrew sold the land for about $1.9 million, all of which is to be paid through private donations, Neil said.

The Gettysburg Foundation -- a private organization that

partners with the Park Service on different projects -- plans to rehabilitate the property and its farm buildings to be used for educational programming and outreach activities.

It has already been named the site of the 2009 Tourism Cares for America volunteer conference.

The Spangler Farm is situated near the new Gettysburg National Military Park Museum and Visitor Center off Baltimore Pike.

Now that the visitor center is open, Neil said the Gettysburg Foundation has been keeping an eye on the threat of over-development around the historic area.

"We watch that situation very carefully, but first and foremost our concern was preserving this piece of property," she said. "This would have been a priority now that we have the visitor's center, but it would have been a priority without the visitor's center as well. We do keep an eye on the development because we're about preservation."

In October 2006, the Land Conservancy of Adams County announced its intention to buy and preserve the Spangler Farm, which was for sale at the time.

The Gettysburg Foundation was also named at the time as another organization that could possibly help facilitate the sale, but it is unclear how the process unfolded.

Land-acquisition needs at Gettysburg -- which one spokeswoman said was at the "high end" of parks its age in terms of acreage not owned by the Park Service -- were highlighted in April by a report released by the National Parks Conservation Association.

Within the 6,000-acre boundary of the Gettysburg National Military Park, about 20 percent of the land is not owned by the Park Service, according to the report.

The NPCA estimates that it would take $3.6 million to purchase four parcels of land that are for sale and at risk of development, though the locations were never specified.

The Spangler Farm might or might not have been included among them.

The last time Gettysburg received land-acquisition funds was in 2001, when the federal government committed more than $5.98 million.

However, the president's proposed 2009 budget includes $2.2 million for land-acquisition within the park.

Land-acquisition work is not a new undertaking for the Gettysburg Foundation, which says it has preserved more than 400 acres in and around the battlefield.