GETTYSBURG — A Gettysburg museum featuring a model Confederate encampment and many Civil War artifacts is closing after more than half a century.

Officials say the Soldiers National Museum will close its doors at the end of the day Nov. 2 and an auction of museum materials will be held Nov. 21-22.

“The museum has been around for a very long time, but the visitors at Gettysburg are looking for something a little bit different today,” said Matt Felty, president of Gettysburg Tours, which owns the museum and several other attractions in the area.

The museum, established in 1959, reportedly attracted as many as 400,000 visitors a day in the 1960s, but Felty said the annual visitation now averages only about 15,000.