GDG- Querried Rocks

[Alan D. Brunelle]

The Mills wrote:
> Esteemed GDG Member Contributes:
>
>
> I was wandering around the Devil's Den area over where they are cutting trees now and found some stones that looked like they had been quarried and a small pit that looked like it may have been where the stones were
> cut from.  Do you know did they use stone from that area as foundations for monuments or something?  The base of the "castle" on Little Roundtop looked like it had similar stone with similar marks.  It is the area they just started cutting, kind of southwest across the road from where the fake sharpshooter photo was taken.  If you look at the map, it would be to the west of where Crawford avenue makes a sharp bend to go around to the top of Devil's Den.
>
> http://www.nps.gov/gett/planyourvisit/upload/GETTmap1%252Epdf.pdf
>
> Thanks
> Andy
>   
Hi Andy -

Adelman & Smith in their very nice booklet entitled "Devil's Den - A 
History and Guide" discuss this twice:

On page 74 they state:

    "The land around Devil's Den, however, was never part of the GBMA's
    holdings, and its preservation is more interesting and complicated.
    Houck's Ridge was a popular place for the quarrying of 'Gettysburg
    granite.' On one of his visits to Gettysburg, General Samuel W.
    Crawford 'noticed a stone-cutter blasting away one of the rocks in
    the Valley of Death for building purposes.'"

They then go on to note how Crawford negotiated, and purchased, about 47 
acres of land in this area.

On page 123 (as part of their guided tour at stop #19):

    "Stop # 19 - The Devil's Den Quarry. ... The name of this stop
    refers to the numerous boulders which have been quarried. The rock
    was used for the trolley, battlefield monuments, roads, bridges,
    steps and flank markers. In fact the stone denoting the site where
    General Meade took command of the Army of the Potomac at Frederick,
    Maryland was quarried in this area. The large marks from chisels and
    the man-made edges are clearly visible on hundreds of rocks on both
    sides of the trolley path."

What's not clear (to me anyhow) was if this area was used as a quarry 
/prior/ to the battle...

Respectfully submitted,
Alan
PS. Any typos in the above quotes are mine and mine alone... :-)

PPS. My son and I just got back from Gettysburg, and as part of our 
"mission" we took this guided tour. It was very well laid out - and the 
view along the trolley path below the triangular field area was well 
worth it.

Later, as part of a tour outlined in Jorgensen's "The Wheatfield of 
Gettysburg - A Walking Tour" we again entered this area looking for the 
Timber's foundation. After spending 60+ minutes trying to find it - and 
believe you me, we must have stepped over/on/around it at some point 
without realizing - we "gave up." In any event, walking over that 
terrain certainly adds to one impression of the Confederate troops who 
assaulted the Den and Rose's woods area - besides the undulating terrain 
and rocky clusters, if the thorns and brambles that are there now were 
there then I certainly pity their shins as well...

PPPS. And with the reconstruction of the landscape, these tour guides 
need some tweaking - with the tree removal certain guide posts are 
removed, and with the addition of fencing, certain areas are "less 
accessible." As an example, during the Wheatfield tour, one is expected 
to go from the Zook monument along the Wheatfield road, and head 
directly to the Winslow Battery Memorial - almost due south. 
Unfortunately (fortunately?) there is now a Virginia/worm fence smack 
dab in the way - requiring one to walk down to Ayre's Ave and then back 
up. Not a big deal, to be sure...