On 17 October 1916 the United States Government began to enforce the regulation banning anyone from conducting guided tours of the Gettysburg battlefield unless they had been properly tested and licensed. Within one year a large number of the newly licensed guides met in the law library of the Adams County Courthouse to discuss mutual concerns arising from the first year of licensed guiding. After much discussion, a consensus was reached that a general association of guides was in the best interests of all concerned. Envisioned as a regular assembly where matters of concern could be discussed and which would permit a unified voice in community affairs, five individuals: H. W. Long, A. H. Butt, John Hoofnagle, Ray Miller, and Irvin Kelly were selected to draw up a organizational plan. The committee was also instructed to look into a possible affiliation with the American Federation of Labor. Work progressed rapidly and on October 24, 1916, the permanent organization was formed with sixteen charter members, as the A.F.L. General George G. Meade Local Union #1 – Gettysburg Battlefield Guide Association (A.F.L. Union Number 15,329). The purposes of the organization were:

Though affiliation with the A.F.L. was terminated within a few years the basic organizational purposes remain with the addition of a strong educational and training component. On April 25, 1988 Frederick W. Hawthorne, Larry L. Wallace, Debra A. Novotny and Suzanne Harbach, acting as incorporators, filed papers to incorporate the Association in the State of Pennsylvania. The purpose of the corporation was stated “…to promote the educational value of a tour of the Gettysburg Battlefield conducted by a Licensed Battlefield Guide and to improve the quality of such a tour by providing research and information in the form of continuing education programs to our members. The ultimate goal of this is to provide the visitor to Gettysburg with the best possible service.”  On May 1, 1988 we were granted incorporated status as a Section 501(c)(6) non-profit professional organization. On April 4, 1991 the Association was granted tax exempt status as a non-profit business organization by the Internal Revenue Service.