Restoration Gone Too Far ?
An effort to restore the Gettysburg Battlefield to it's 1863 appearance is under way, however, is there point where, in an attempt to restore an area, historical facts are ignored or unknown, but the job continues anyway ?
I'm bringing up the case of the Klingel Farm and it's restoration . For the purpose of returning the look of the farm to it's 1863 appearance it's understandable that some of the outbuildings that stand around the farmhouse should be taken down because they were constructed in modern times, however, the trees that were standing in the yard may have been there before and during the 1860's, therefore, before cutting them to the ground, you would think that the historians would have researched that point but as you see here, the trees are gone, the orchards will be planted where the trees stood and the outrage is just beginning.
These photos don't really show the extent of the rubble, and certainly can't show the barreness of the yard now without those two trees. You can compare the photos here with the photos of the previous article "Restoration of the Klingel Farm" and see for yourself. You can also log onto www.gettysburgdaily.com and see other photos that also not only tell the story here, but there is a compelling photograph that may prove that at least one of these trees may have stood during the battle of Gettysburg.
As always I encourage input and welcome comments. What do you think?
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The Rehabilitation of the Klingel Farm
I've been all over the Gettysburg Battlefield and there are so many places that are a joy to visit again and again. Many of my favorite places are the farms that dot the fields. There is so much history there, and to see the buildings that still stand is quite exciting. These farms were witnesses to the great battle that took place here and they have so many secrets, if only they could talk. I am a purest at heart, and sometimes I hate the idea of progress tramping across these fields and messing with the architecture. I know that the farms need to be kept up as well as the fields they occupy and I for one am glad that I can see them and touch them and wonder what it must have been like to live there over 145 years ago.
This is a story about the Klingel Farm which stands along Emmitsburg Road and looks out over the Peach Orchard and the Round Tops. It stands today as it has for many, many years because it was lived in and worked as a farm should be. Because the battlefield is being returned to it's 1863 appearance, so will the farms that are here simply because they had acquired outbuildings and other trappings that were not part of the farm in the 1860's, but modern day conveniences. The original house was a log house, which we may see that restored, the rest of the house was added to it later. It, along with the rest of the farm will be completely renovated by the Park Service. We will have to see what the end result will be.
The National Park Service acquired the Klingel Farm in late Spring of 2008 and up until that time, it had been occupied.
It's a great old house. This is a side entrance just as you come in from Emmitsburg Road.
The barn has managed to withstand many years here. It still does its job, there's a beautiful horse in residence here and he sometimes stands for long periods of time looking out over the battlefield and sometimes he just runs like the wind in the field behind the barn and kicks up his heals!
The view from the kitchen window and back porch is that of the Trostle Farm (on the right) and the Weikert House on the left. There's a horse trail (top left of photo) where you see riders passing the farm.
These two giants are believed to be Kentucky Coffee Trees. The male being in the foreground and the female in close proximity. The male drops pods that are about 8-12" in length.
There's always an "outhouse" in the back yard at the farm. I remember my grandmother having one. This one is shaded by the giant tree.
I never get tired of looking at these grand old trees, and when they are fully covered in leaves they are remarkably beautiful.
I've left in these un-retouched photos (auto) because to crop the photo I would loose some of the tree. This is looking from the Barn towards town. These outbuildings will be removed when the renovation of the farmhouse begins.
All around this house there are trees that provide shade for the house. This is the side of the house that faces the Peach Orchard.
The old chicken coop and animal pens. These outbuildings will also be removed during the rehabilitation of the farm house.
A very quiet place to be would be here in the grape arbor. There are flowers blooming all around and the arbor provides shade as well as the large old tree. If you look straight through the middle of the photo you can see the Henry Spangler Farm building (Red Barn)
Under the grape arbor looking out towards the Peach Orchard. To the left of the photo are two old buildings that stand next to the barn that will be removed during the renovation.
Even as old and run down as it seems now, this is still a great old house.
The New View on Taneytown Road
There's an old saying "You can't see the forest for the trees", which came to mind when I first saw a hint of a hole in the "tree" wall along Taneytown Road, that was about a month or so ago. Each day bought more holes and soon the travelers of Taneytown Road were introduced to a great expanse of ground that opened up a view of the battlefield beyond and the once hidden horse trail that comes through here on it's way to Artillery Ridge Resort. The saying proved to be true because here, you couldn't see the "Grove" for the trees.
This is the view from Taneytown Road as you travel towards town. Where once it was completely obscured by trees and bushes, now is a great open expanse where the horsetrail traverses through it and now you can see the battlefield while standing on the other side of Taneytown Road.
As I said before, the shock was severe for anyone who has lived here for any length of time, because only the NPS Marker was visible from the road, behind it was thick with underbrush and trees.
This Monument is situated on Taneytown Road & Granite School House Road. In the past you might even drive right by it because it has been hidden by overgrowth. It is an important monument , it's Battery C, 3rd US Artillery and was a member of the Horse Artillery under Lt. William Fuller. It's appropriate that it's a Cavalry Unit and that today, a horsetrail runs through the area and riders can ride through the Grove you see in the photo.
From inside the open expanse looking out at Taneytown Road, you can see the homes now and the cars, busses and trucks going by. If you stand on Sedgwick Avenue at about where the horsetrail begins, you now look across this open expanse and see the ugly open scar and these homes on Taneytown Road.
Even with some of the downed trees, you can see the homes on Taneytown Road through the opening. At some point in time, this will disappear also when the land is cleared.
If you are riding your horse on this trail, you see this view now, whereas before, it seemed as though you were in a wooded area.
This is the end of the horse trail. It stops just short of Taneytown Road, where the front guide will stop the traffic to get the riders across the road.
Whether you have your own horse or you rent one from Artillery Ridge Resort, this is a popular horse trail, traveled hundreds of times in the spring and summer months, and I almost laughlingly wondered whether the horses were worried about not finding their way back to the barn! (I found out as a young girl who went riding quite a bit that stabled bridlepath horses seem to be able to find their way back with or without their rider!)
This handsome Paint caught our eye as he made his way along the trail. The photo doesn't do him justice. He doesn't seem to mind the scenery at all, even though it looks like a tornado went through the trail. He is a great example of some good horseflesh.
I've seen hundreds of trees cut down in the past 4 years here on the battlefield, but as many times as I've seen the end result of the cutting, I still can't understand why, when there are multiple trees growing in one spot, seemingly attached to each other, that only part of the tree is cut down and the remainder is left to stand as it does in this photograph. I suppose a justification would be that it's okay, they 're only killing half a tree".
There are many spots in this grove where this has happened, where partial cuts were done and many, many stumps of other trees stick up as a reminder of just how overgrown this place had become. I've been told that in the past, this was an open area that actually had grass and NPS had to keep it mowed! Hard to believe when you see it now. Again for the sake of History, it 's done.
Walking around in this "Grove" as I like to call it, I covered large expanses of ground and would inevitably come up to a rock wall that seem to define the boundary lines of this area. There are still areas that have woodlots and some thicketts to meander through, and while climbing around in the brush I came upon these two trees. When I first saw them I stopped in my tracks, because I thought "how appropriate they are here, they seem to be trying to save each other from the axe". I witnessed alot of that in this place and sometimes it's visuals like this that makes you stop and wonder whether the end justifies the means. (That, of course, is my own opinion.)
I will say again that the National Park Service has their Rehabilitation Plan in the works and has been transforming the battlefield to its 1863 appearance. Whether this idea is welcomed with open arms by everyone is not known yet, and I think the idea is a good idea, but I too have my reservations about it; I liked the battlefield just the way it was! Again, I'll just say that these areas of the cuttings look so very bad at first and though it does take time to heal the land, it will heal at least to a point where it won't look so barren. The growth will return in time, Mother Nature will see to that!
Sharon
I wanted to continue documenting the tree cutting in the field along Taneytown Road until I could determine that it was finally finished and everyone could look at the field and say, "yes, I see the reasoning behind it", however, I waited for two weeks and there is more to see now, but I'm still not sure it's finished.
I started at the end of the horse trail looking towards town.
Up close at the end of the horse trail you can see Sedgwick Avenue through the opening
Now when you are standing at the intersection of Granite School House Road & Taneytown Road you can see the Maintenance Building and it's outbuildings of the National Park Service. If those trees are cut down, you will no doubt be able to see the Hummelbaugh House and the Pennsylvania Monument. (of course that's my guess!)
The Monuments on Sedgwick Avenue are clearly visible now, though when the sun is setting it's blinding light doesn't allow the camera to pick up the view as well. (squinting is the plan of the day here). You will have to see this view when the sun isn't peeking through the trees otherwise it becomes impossible to see what's there.
It's October and the trees are turning vibrant colors, even here in the midst of all the "bones" of the trees that no longer wear their beauty.
There are three houses across the street from this field. Since the scraping bare of it, here's the view from their front door now.
This marker is very small now in comparison to the field that it marks. It's almost swallowed up in the great expanse of it all.
The Fall colors are everywhere and it's hard to see this field and enjoy the color at the same time.
This old tree is laying near the wall in the field. It's a great old tree and while they removed the others, this one will lay there until the shredder machine makes mulch of it. It's so big that it's clearly visible from almost any vantage point in the field.
It doesn't look as large from this angle, but compared to someone small like myself, this is a BIG tree!
I've seen people driving along Taneytown Road gawking at this open field. I've seen people on the Battlefield walk along Sedgwick Avenue and look out across this great open field and comment on the view (telephone poles, houses, busy road). This is just my thoughts on it, but I don't think this field is looking quite the way the Park Service wants it to look just yet, so keep tuned in...I will keep up the photography until it's finished. My sources have told me that this field used to be covered with grass and it had to be mowed. I was also told that 35 years ago this field was cut. Here's a thought...what do you think it's going to be like when the winter snows come and they blow across the Battlefield and blow right through this field?
The thoughts and opinions posted here are mine, however, I welcome any comments and thoughts my readers may have, so please let me know what you think!
Restoration on Taneytown Road
Whether you are a new traveler or an everyday traveler on Taneytown Road you can't miss the changes that have cropped up over the last 30 days. Subtle as they were, it soon became apparent that something was happening and no one was saying a word about it, so the shock value was pretty severe. The first apparent change was the restoration efforts of the National Park to restore a building that literally sits on the edge of the road and just looked like your everyday old "outbuilding". It's now believed to be a home which was present during the war, however, research is being done to find out for sure.
This preservation attempt is part of a major plan to restore the battlefield and it's resourses (which can include Buildings) to it's 1863 appearance. The National Park Service has a 25 yr Management plan which now is known as the Rehabilitation Plan.
President Bush Visits New Visitor Center
Friday, September 5, 2008 - What a nice surprise! Well, it was a surprise, since all my nosing around didn't uncover the fact that President Bush and Mrs. Bush were coming to town, but yes they were here. Since the President was at Camp David, it's only a short hop to Gettysburg, so it was fitting that he squeeze in a trip to our New Visitor Center and get a first look at the Cyclorama Painting, having been restored by the grace of the Department of Interior and which I'm told is now finished. Many newspapers covered the story, a few from Michigan, Chicago, even as far west as an Oregon newspaper, and a newspaper titled The Southern Ledger which serves the Southeast United States (according to their header) but apparently needs a new proof-reader because it stated that Bob Pinsley not Robert Kinsley was the chair of the Gettysburg Foundation, and last but not least, a couple of Pennsylvania newspapers, including our own Gettysburg Times.
He spent a couple of hours here, toured the building , a few areas of the battlefield and traveled right back to Camp David. Only a few people knew he was here; Mr. Robert Kinsley (Founder and CEO of Kinsley Construction) and Chair of the Gettysburg Foundation Board and a few other dignitaries whose names I am not all familiar with, but who were on hand to see and be seen with our President. Wouldn't it be grand if the President and Mrs. Bush held a news conference for the sole purpose of telling the people of the United States just how wonderful the New Visitor Center is and that everyone should beat a path to its doors and experience the Civil War as he did with his visit! Well, when all is said and done, Gettysburg may be a small blip on a map, but it sure does attract the biggest celebrities! Oh, and President Bush was invited back for the Grand Opening on the 26th September which is when the Pickett's Charge painting will be unveiled, but due to scheduling conflicts, will not be able to attend.