‘Ned The Horse’ Returns Home

By Leon Reed · Originally published July 2016 · p. 54

“Ned The Horse” after restoration. Visitors can see him in the Old Village in Gettysburg. In the mid-1900s Cliff Arquette opened the Charley Weaver Museum of the Civil War in Gettysburg, Pa. The Museum was housed in a building that had served as headquarters for General O.O. Howard during the Battle of Gettysburg, and remained in operation for about ten years.

GETTYSBURG, PA.—A popular Gettysburg attraction has a new lease on life. Ned the horse, a favorite attraction at Old Gettysburg Village on Baltimore St. for more than 50 years, was recently restored and returned to his spot in a courtyard. Ned was put in place in 1963 by famous Hollywood TV star Cliff Arquette, who played the character “Charlie Weaver” as a frequent guest on the Jack Paar Show and a regular on Hollywood Squares. Arquette was also a Civil War buff and opened “Charlie Weaver’s Museum of the Civil War” in the old Homestead Orphanage building on Baltimore St. It later became the “Soldier’s National Museum” and closed in 2014. Arquette also built a merchant’s village behind his museum and placed Ned there in 1963. Arquette is the grandfather of actors Patricia, Rosanna, Alexis, Richmond, and David Arquette. By the summer of 2015, Ned had deteriorated considerably, and the owner planned a short trip to the glue factory. Merchants at Old Gettysburg Village and other buffs got together, staged a fund raiser and received permission from the owner to do the restoration. He was returned to his courtyard on May 15th. A new tail and main have been ordered.