Little Round Top rehabilitation project at Gettysburg

Auto Tour detour map

Click here for closing info for Devil’s Den and Little Round Top

GETTYSBURG PA – A $13 million rehabilitation of Little Round Top began on Tuesday, July 26 at Gettysburg National Military Park (NMP). The Little Round Top area of the battlefield will be closed for approximately 18 months while the National Park Service improves infrastructure and updates the experience for visitors.  

Results of a 2017 Gettysburg NMP Visitor Study emphasized the importance of Little Round Top to visitors. The report showed that 90% of park visitors go to Little Round Top during their battlefield visit.  

“This closure will allow the necessary improvements to be completed in a safe and timely manner. The result of this project will help prevent further damage to this iconic location while increasing access and improving the visitor experience,” Superintendent Steven D. Sims said. 

The scope of the rehabilitation project will address 1) overwhelmed parking areas and related safety hazards, 2) significant erosion caused by heavy visitation, 3) degraded vegetation, and 4) poor accessibility. The high volume of visitation is a significant contributing factor to the deterioration of the landscape, resulting in a degradation of important natural and artificial defenses, and historic topographic features of the battlefield. The rehabilitation of Little Round Top will reestablish, preserve, and protect the features that make up the battlefield landscape and that are essential to understanding the three-day battle that occurred at Gettysburg. This rehabilitation project will also enhance the experience of visiting the hill, with improved interpretive signage and new trail alignments, allowing visitors to immerse themselves into the historic landscape.   

Gettysburg National Military Park preserves, protects, and interprets the 1863 Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War, the Gettysburg National Cemetery, and their commemorations. The project will provide the maximum possible level of access to, and interpretation of, key battle and commemorative features, while ensuring the protection and stewardship of this highly significant site.   

Closures   

During the 18-month rehabilitation project, the following will be closed to all visitation and traffic:   

·       The entirety of Little Round Top as described as the area that borders Wheatfield Road to the north, Crawford Avenue to the west, Warren Avenue to the south, and Sykes Avenue to the east.   

·       Roads in their entirety: Sykes Avenue, Warren Avenue, Wright Avenue.   

·       Hiking trail in its entirety: The trail that runs parallel to Sykes Avenue, located on the east side of the road, from Wheatfield Road on the north end to just past Wright Avenue on the south end.   

During the rehabilitating, the following will be closed to all vehicle traffic:   

·       South Confederate Avenue will be closed to all vehicle traffic just south of the picnic area.    

·       South Confederate Avenue will be open to all pedestrian (walk, hike, bicycle, Segway) traffic from just south of the picnic area to near the four-way intersection with Warren Avenue, Sykes Avenue, and Wright Avenue. All pedestrian traffic will be required to turn around at this intersection. Walkers and hikers will also be able to proceed on the many hiking trails around Big Round Top, to Devil’s Den, and to the Slyder and Bushman farms. As always, bicyclists and Segway riders are not permitted to ride on any unpaved surface.   

Auto Tour Detour   

Due to the length of the project, and the roads affected by the closure, the park has created an updated Auto Tour detour. This map is available on our website and in paper format at the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum and Visitor Center information desk. This paper map will also be distributed throughout the Gettysburg, PA area through Destination Gettysburg and Main Street Gettysburg affiliates.   

Project Website   

The Gettysburg National Military Park website (https://www.nps.gov/gett) has a dedicated section for the Little Round Top rehabilitation project. These web pages include the Auto Tour detour map, Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), a project timeline, links to Little Round Top virtual content, and photo albums. More content will be added as it becomes available.   

Cost   

The overall cost of the project is $13 million ($11 million for construction and $2 million for re-vegetation). The project has been funded through a mix of private and federal funding. The staff of Gettysburg National Military Park would like to thank the following: John Nau III, Gettysburg Foundation, American Battlefield Trust, and the National Park Foundation.   

We appreciate your patience as we work to complete this pivotal rehabilitation project.   

www.nps.gov  

Help Preserve Gettysburg’s Iconic Skyline

There is no more iconic battlefield than Gettysburg. Names like Devils Den, Little Round Top, the Railroad Cut and the High-water Mark have left indelible marks on each of our hearts. Many of us have visited these places on multiple occasions and have fond memories of this historic and picturesque landscape.

We know the value of preserving battlefields as walkable classrooms and places that should be protected so that future generations can share the same experiences we have had. Well, imagine if the next time you visit the battlefield the bucolic views we have come to enjoy and appreciate are now marred with a giant water tower and other 21st-century support structures.

The very essence of the Gettysburg viewshed is now being threatened by a proposed zoning amendment that could change the skyline forever.

On Tuesday, July 26 the Cumberland Township Board of Supervisors will consider a request to amend a zoning ordinance that would increase the maximum height regulations for "essential services" from 35 to 175 feet in Residential and Residential Medium High Districts. This proposed change would open the door for projects such as a recent proposal by the Gettysburg Municipal Authority to build a 175-foot water tower on historic Herr’s Ridge, creating a massive visual intrusion on the First Day portion of the battlefield and overshadowing other critical to the scenic integrity of the park.

We invite you to join us in raising concerns to the Cumberland Township Board of Supervisors about the proposed amendment. It’s essential that we make our voices heard and share our concerns with the Board.

Take a moment to SPEAK OUT – sign the appropriate letter on our website to the Board of Supervisors, emphasizing the need to protect Gettysburg National Military Park’s magnificent viewshed and identify less-intrusive solutions to infrastructure goals. If you are able, please consider attending the Board of Supervisors hearing on July 26 to make your voice heard.

Don’t let Gettysburg’s skyline that we have all come to cherish be scarred forever.

Sincerely,
Jim Campi
Chief Policy and Communications Officer
American Battlefield Trust

NPS Developing Landscape Plan At Antietam

Park Service Developing Landscape Plan At Antietam National Battlefield

From National Parks Traveler
By Compiled From NPS News Releases - July 8th, 2022

The National Park Service is preparing an updated land management plan for Antietam National Battlefield/NPS file

The National Park Service is taking a look across the landscape at Antietam National Battlefield with an eye towards restoration and preservation that would be accomplished through a Landscape Management Plan.

The agency has prepared an environmental assessment for development of the plan and is now seeking public comment on it. The plan would amend the Antietam National Battlefield General Management Plan, last updated in 1992, improve the scene restoration and resource management portions of the GMP, address lands acquired since 1992, and guide the evolving management of the historic battlefield landscape. 

The proposed project includes reforesting approximately 140 acres; enhancing riparian buffers and mitigating erosion; establishing approximately 287 acres of additional native grasslands and meadows; maintaining agricultural areas; re-planting and maintaining orchards; maintaining mown lawn; improving the Mumma Farmstead and location-specific designed landscapes; re-establishing important viewsheds; and maintaining fencing and other landscape elements.

Antietam National Battlefield was established in 1890 to commemorate the bloodiest single-day battle in American history. The purpose of Antietam National Battlefield is to preserve, protect, restore, and interpret for the benefit of the public the land and resources associated with the Battle of Antietam and its legacy. 

The purpose of the land management plan is to develop comprehensive and sustainable land-use strategies that will preserve significant landscape elements and integrate natural and cultural resources. The plan will define the framework for the treatment of the battlefield describing specific guidelines and tasks aimed to maintain and enhance its historic character. Some of the issues the updated plan will address are invasive plant species, pests, erosion of the battlefield, protection of witness trees, improving agricultural and watershed stewardship and climate change impacts. 

Public comment on the plan is being taken through August 8. To learn more about the plan and comment on-line, visit this site. You also can mail comments to:

Superintendent 
Attn: Landscape Management Plan 
Antietam National Battlefield 
P.O. Box 158 
Sharpsburg, MD 21782 

NPS Awards $926,674 to Extend Protected Land at Gettysburg

National Park Service Awards $926,674 to Extend Protected Land at Gettysburg Battlefield

July 9, 2022 Gettysburg Connection
by Community Contributors

The National Park Service’s (NPS) American Battlefield Protection Program (ABPP) awarded $926,674.18 in Battlefield Land Acquisition Grants to the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission to protect an additional 4.64 acres of Civil War battlefield lands at Gettysburg.

These projects build on more than a decade of collaborative conservation in which the American Battlefield Trust has partnered with other nonprofit organizations, the NPS, and state and local governments to preserve one of our nation’s most iconic battlefields. The awards are made possible by the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which reinvests revenue from offshore oil and natural gas leasing to help strengthen conservation and recreation opportunities across the nation. 

“These grants to state and local governments represent an important investment in public-private conservation efforts across America,” said NPS Director Chuck Sams. “They support partnership efforts that thoughtfully consider the needs, concerns, and priorities of communities inextricably connected to these unique places and stories.”  

In the months following the July 1863 battle at Gettysburg, local advocates purchased parts of the area known as Culp’s Hill to protect the battlefield and set aside land for those who died in action. By century’s end, the Gettysburg Memorial Association, a non-profit organization chartered to protect the battlefield and commemorate Union forces, turned over many of these acres and monuments for inclusion in the federally managed Gettysburg National Military Park. The NPS stepped up to steward the park in 1933 and, for nearly a century, has worked with partners to protect, interpret, and restore the battle’s most significant sites of military encounters and support operations.   

Since 2015, the American Battlefield Trust has matched NPS ABPP awards totaling $3.69 million to protect nearly 95 acres at Gettysburg. The two grants awarded today support the Trust’s on-going efforts to protect lands adjacent to the park, including tracts on Culp’s Hill, that enhance NPS’s commitment to safeguard the Battle of Gettysburg’s landscapes and memories.

As we approach the battle’s 159th anniversary, the protection of Culp’s Hill looks back to the earliest preservation efforts at Gettysburg and forward with our collective dedication to what President Abraham Lincoln described as “the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.”  

NPS ABPP’s Battlefield Land Acquisition Grants empower preservation partners nationwide to acquire and preserve threatened battlefields on American soil. In addition, the program administers three other grant programs: Preservation Planning, Battlefield Interpretation and Battlefield Restoration Grants. Financial and technical assistance support sustainable, community-driven stewardship of natural and historic resources at the state, tribal and local levels.  

Battlefield Land Acquisition Grants are available on a rolling basis. To learn more about how to apply, head to NPS ABPP’s website. For questions about NPS ABPP’s grants, contact the program at e-mail us. 

Join Civil War Trust for Live Coverage of Gettysburg 159!

In just a few days, we’ll mark the 159th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg. From July 1-3, Trust historians will be coming to you from the field, joined by special guests including Carol Reardon, Doug Douds, Tim Smith, Bryan Cheeseboro and more. I hope you’ll join us – virtually – as we tackle tours and topics across the battlefield.

We’ll cover as much ground as we can, both new territory and a few favorite haunts. But for 2022, we’re drilling down into stories of individual soldiers, as much as possible. There will be content for novices and Gettysburg buffs alike, some special surprises and even giveaways courtesy of our friends at Ancestry/Fold3!

Tune in to the American Battlefield Trust Facebook Page and YouTube channel for this exclusive Battlefield Live event, July 1-3. Make sure to check both, as our connectivity may vary.

We will start around 9:00 a.m. EST, and broadcast intermittently on one channel, the other, or both, throughout the three-day event. We may even get so excited that we post the day before and after as well! 

See you (virtually) in Gettysburg!

Garry Adelman
Chief Historian
American Battlefield Trust

Culpeper Battlefields State Park Authorized in Virginia

At the American Battlefield Trust, we are fond of saying that “we build parks and tell stories” Well, today, we mean it quite literally! 

On June 21, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin held a ceremonial signing of the state’s two-year, compromise budget, which included language authorizing the creation of Culpeper Battlefields State Park, set to open on July 1, 2024!  This park will be formed by the Trust’s donation of some 1,700 acres of battlefield land to the state — hallowed ground that you and I have protected, now recognized for its incredible historic value and embraced for its scenic and recreational opportunities.   

If you’ve ever had the chance to travel to Culpeper, Va., you’ve likely taken in some beautiful sights — from green, rolling hills to rambling horse farms to the Blue Ridge Mountains in the west. So greatly steeped in history is this landscape, that we at the Trust have saved roughly 4,982 acres here over the past 35 years we’ve been in operation — at Brandy Station, Cedar Mountain, Kelly’s Ford and Rappahannock Station.  

But Culpeper was not only a place of massive strategic importance in the Civil War, it was also a stop for thousands of enslaved peoples as they hurried northward to freedom; many crossed the Rappahannock and Rapidan Rivers there. 

Now these historic landscapes will have the chance to attract an even greater crowd of students and lifelong learners as a state park. Its creation from these protected landscapes is the culmination of a tremendous vision shared by not only elected officials across the Commonwealth, but also the preservation community and Culpeper residents. We are also deeply thankful that the budget includes a $3 million appropriation that will allow the Trust to pursue even more land, up to 800 acres, to enhance the park’s visitor experience.  

I’ve seen some of the ideas that have been proposed for this park and I can tell you: We are in for a treat when the park opens in July 2024! Until that time, don’t hesitate to get a head start and check out Culpeper’s battlefields as the summer season provides a picture-perfect setting for exploration.  

Thank you for standing beside us as we strive to save hallowed ground and make it even more meaningful by molding pathways for increased access and refreshing learning opportunities!

Sincerely,

Jim Campi

Chief Policy and Communications Officer

American Battlefield Trust

159th Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg - Sacred Trust - Talks and Book Signings

The Gettysburg Foundation presents…

Join us for Talks & Book Signings July 1-3, 2022, at the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum & Visitor Center, 1195 Baltimore Pike, Gettysburg, PA.

Daytime Talks in the event tent on the front lawn. Tickets not required.

Evening Talks in the theater inside the Museum & Visitor Center. Free Tickets required for theater seating.

Free tickets for 7 p.m. evening Talks will be available on schedule:

July 1, 7 p.m. Talk - SOLD OUT

July 2, 7 p.m. Talk

July 3 | Available June 16

USS Monitor still in "Astounding Condition"

June 6
CBS News (link to story)

In this May 2022 image provided by NOAA, sand tiger sharks swim next to the USS Monitor's armor belt, 16 miles off North Carolina./ AP

One of the nation's most revered military shipwrecks was visited in May by a NOAA-backed team and they made a surprising discovery 16 miles off North Carolina.

The Civil War ironclad USS Monitor is apparently refusing to surrender to the forces of nature. Despite being on the seafloor since 1862, the first-of-its-kind ship remains in "an excellent state of preservation," according to Tane Renata Casserley, resource protection and permit coordinator at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Monitor National Marine Sanctuary.

That's all the more surprising given Navy divers made significant intrusions into the shipwreck in 2002, when they recovered the highly prized turret and other artifacts for preservation, he said.

"The wreck is in an astounding condition after being on the seafloor for 160 years and weathering all of the environmental conditions off Cape Hatteras, including exceedingly strong currents and hurricanes," Casserley told McClatchy News.

"During those (2002) projects, it was necessary to cut into the ironclad's armorbelt, hull, and deck to gain access to the turret since the shipwreck was on top of it. The question for us at NOAA was, did those cuts into the shipwreck cause further deterioration? Would we see significant changes caused by these actions today?"

The answer to those questions "was a resounding 'No'," he said.

It's a revelation that begs explanation, and Casserley has a theory.

The USS Monitor was visited as part of the Valor in the Atlantic expedition, which sent a remotely operated camera to explore multiple ships sunk during the Civil War and World War II.

The USS Monitor was the oldest and most important of them, as the first U.S. warship built with a revolutionary rotating gun turret, NOAA reports.

Monitor sank on New Year's Eve in 1862, in a region off North Carolina known as the Graveyard of the Atlantic, due to an estimated 2,000 shipwrecks. Sixteen U.S. sailors were lost in the sinking, historians say. "The waves grew and the wind howled. With each pitch and roll, shock waves ravaged the crew and the hull of the little ship," according to a NOAA report.

"Leaks developed, flooding the engines and reducing steam pressure needed for propulsion. The crew tried using pumps and even bailing with buckets, but the distress was too great. ... The turret was the only escape hatch from below and as the men attempted dashing across the deck many of them were swept into the unknown by the treacherous waves."

Two Confederate holidays could be erased from Louisiana law

From USA Today….
May 26, 2022

Baton Rouge, Louisiana:
Two Confederate holidays would be erased from Louisiana law under legislation approved 4-2 by a state Senate committee. The House-passed bill by Rep. Matthew Willard, a New Orleans Democrat, goes next to the full Senate. Neither Confederate Memorial Day nor the day honoring Gen. Robert E. Lee have been observed in Louisiana for years. They are among a list of holidays a governor can proclaim in addition to other, permanent holidays that include Christmas and Independence Day. The governor is limited in the number he can proclaim in a year.
As amended by the Senate Judiciary Committee A on Tuesday, the list of optional holidays still would include President’s Day, National Memorial Day and a day honoring Huey P. Long, the former Louisiana governor and U.S. senator. Committee chairman Barrow Peacock, a Republican from the Shreveport-Bossier area, was among the bill’s opponents. He said the holidays should be seen as memorials and markers of history that should be remembered

May Armed Forces Events in the Valley

Join us on Sunday, May 22nd at 2PM (1400 hours) when we will once again place flags on Veteran graves at Fairview Cemetery. The Cemetery is located at 855 Lehigh St, Allentown, PA. Your help will be greatly appreciated. The more volunteers the better!!!

Please join the 153rd PA Volunteer Infantry reenacting group in a ceremony honoring the members of the original 153rd PVI buried at Nisky Hill Cemetery as well as all veterans. The ceremony will take place in the Nisky Hill Cemetery, 254 East Church Street, Bethlehem, Pa., on Saturday, May 28, 2022, at 11:00 AM.

See two other events on the photos below: