Seminary Ridge is a dendritic ridge which was an area of

Battle of Gettysburg The Battle of Gettysburg () was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, by Union and Confederate forces during the American Civil War. In the battle, Union Major General George Meade's Army of th ...

engagements in July 1863 during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by state ...

(1861–1865), and of

military installation A military base is a facility directly owned and operated by or for the military or one of its branches that shelters military equipment and personnel, and facilitates training and operations. A military base always provides accommodations for o ...

s during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

(1941–1945).

Geography

Seminary Ridge is a northern portion of the

drainage divide A drainage divide, water divide, ridgeline, watershed, water parting or height of land is elevated terrain that separates neighboring drainage basins. On rugged land, the divide lies along topographical ridges, and may be in the form of a sing ...

between the Marsh Creek Watershed on the west and the

Rock Creek Rock Creek or Rockcreek may refer to: Streams United States * Rock Creek (California) * Rock Creek (Fountain Creek tributary), Colorado * Rock Creek (Idaho) * Rock Creek (Kankakee River tributary), Illinois * Rock Creek (Wapsipinicon River tribut ...

Watershed (east). At the south end of Oak Ridge (the northernmost portion of the divide), the north-south McPherson and Seminary ridges bifurcate southward at the triple watershed point of Willoughby's and Pitzer runs (southward tributaries of Marsh Creek) with a Rock Creek eastward tributary. From the triple point, Seminary Ridge extends southward to an area with eastward drainage into the Rock Cr tributary ( Stevens Creek), with the borough of Gettysburg, and with the TBD. Farther south into the Gettysburg National Park, Seminary Ridge continues as far as a branch of Pitzer Run, which divides the ridgeline (), around which the drainage divide curves to the east. The ridgeline continues south of the branch, crossing the Millerstown Road. Between the Millerstown and Emmitsburg road crossings, the west side of the ridgeline is an elevated area (hornfel along the northwest edge of a diabase sheet) about 1 mile wide along the Emmitsburg Road. Along this east side of this elevated area, the ridgeline is

Warfield Ridge The Gettysburg Battlefield is the area of the July 1–3, 1863, military engagements of the Battle of Gettysburg within and around the borough of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Locations of military engagements extend from the site of the first shot ...

, the southernmost portion of Seminary Ridge near the south end of the

Gettysburg Battlefield The Gettysburg Battlefield is the area of the July 1–3, 1863, military engagements of the Battle of Gettysburg within and around the borough of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Locations of military engagements extend from the site of the first sho ...

. South of the tip of Seminary/Warfield Ridge tip, the Marsh/Rock creeks' drainage divide continues about 4 miles to near the

Mason–Dixon line The Mason–Dixon line, also called the Mason and Dixon line or Mason's and Dixon's line, is a demarcation line separating four U.S. states, forming part of the borders of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, and West Virginia (part of Virgini ...

at their confluence to form the

Monocacy River The Monocacy River () is a free-flowing left tributary to the Potomac River, which empties into the Atlantic Ocean via the Chesapeake Bay. The river is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data ...

. The portion of Seminary Ridge on the western side of

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania Gettysburg (; non-locally ) is a borough and the county seat of Adams County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The Battle of Gettysburg (1863) and President Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address are named for this town. Gettysburg is home to th ...

includes the railroad cut behind houses north of Buford Avenue and the historic Gettysburg Armory. Extending south are Schultz Woods, Spangler Woods, Berdan Woods,
-> the McMillan Woods Youth Campground, Pitzer Woods, Biesecker's Woods, and the 1895 Longstreet Tower, which provides an observation platform for the "southern end" of Seminary Ridge (Warfield Ridge). The Eisenhower National Historic Site on the west of the ridge is visible from the tower. Seminary Ridge Avenue and the sections of West Confederate Avenue (northwest and southwest) generally extend along the landform's ridgeline and provide access to numerous battle monuments on the ridge, including the prominent

Virginia Monument The Virginia Monument is a Battle of Gettysburg memorial to the commonwealth's "Sons at Gettysburg" (Battlefield) with a bronze statue of Robert E. Lee on his horse Traveller and a "''bronze group of figures representing the Artillery, Infantry, ...

. Seminary Ridge is crossed by Buford and Springs avenues, as well as West Middle Street.

South Seminary Ridge

South Seminary Ridge is a

landform south of an east-west branch of

Pitzer Run Pitzer Run is a Pennsylvania stream flowing southward between McPherson Ridge and Seminary and Warfield Ridges through the Gettysburg Battlefield to Willoughby Run at the site of Pitzer's School, which was Confederate General Longstreet's headqua ...

, which separates South Seminary Ridge from a separate landform to the north on the west of Gettysburg with the

Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg (Gettysburg Seminary) was a seminary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. It was one of seven ELCA seminaries, one of the three seminaries in the Eastern ...

. South of the Pitzer Run branch, the ridgeline of South Seminary Ridge extends from Pitzer Woods, across the Millerstown Road, past the Longstreet Tower to the Emmitsburg Road and on to the southernmost state memorial on the battlefield (Alabama), which is just west of the right flank marker for the Confederate Line.

is a portion of South Seminary Ridge southward to the Alabama Memorial, and the ridge landform continues southward out of the Gettysburg National Park to where Ridge Road is on the crest.

History

The 1761 Samuel Gettysbr>tavern was built near the ridge at the crossroads
east of Stevens Creek, and it preceded both the c. 1812 construction of the Chambersburg Pike across the ridge and the nearby " Gettysburg Theological Seminary" being established on the ridge on August 1, 1826. In 1832, Old Dorm (now Schmucker Hall) was built, and Pennsylvania College (now

Gettysburg College Gettysburg College is a private liberal arts college in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1832, the campus is adjacent to the Gettysburg Battlefield. Gettysburg College has about 2,600 students, with roughly equal numbers of men and women ...

) was started on the east side of the ridge. On the ridge along the Chambersburg Pike, the

Thaddeus Stevens Thaddeus Stevens (April 4, 1792August 11, 1868) was a member of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania, one of the leaders of the Radical Republican faction of the Republican Party during the 1860s. A fierce opponent of sla ...

building near the seminary (used for

Robert E. Lee Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War, towards the end of which he was appointed the overall commander of the Confederate States Army. He led the Army of Nort ...

's 1863 headquarters) was built in 1834. At the time of the battle, the section of the ridge at the extension of West Middle St (the Hagerstown Rd) was known as "Haupt's Hill".

Civil War and postbellum

Seminary Ridge was the site of Battle of Gettysburg fighting on July 1, 1863, as well as a Pitzer Woods engagement on July 2.

established his headquarters on the ridge just north of the Chambersburg pike, and the ridge also served as the Confederate

line of battle The line of battle is a tactic in naval warfare in which a fleet of ships forms a line end to end. The first example of its use as a tactic is disputed—it has been variously claimed for dates ranging from 1502 to 1652. Line-of-battle tacti ...

for July 2 & 3 attacks against

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union of the collective states. It proved essential to th ...

positions on Cemetery Ridge. On July 3, 500 men in George Pickett's division were killed/wounded on Seminary Ridge (including 88 lost in one regiment of Kemper's Brigade) from the Federal artillery counterfire prior to Pickett's Charge. The last hospital patient of the seminary's Old Dorm left on September 16, 1863. Longstreet Tower (No. 2 of five at Gettysburg) was built on the ridge by the War Department in 1895. * original formats
18951900190919131918
/ref> West Confederate Avenue was built at the turn of the 20th century for Seminary Ridge tourism, while Sharpshooters Avenue (named Berdan Avenue by 1930) was extended from W Confederate Avenue in 1917 for access to a

Pitzer Woods Pitzer Woods is a Gettysburg Battlefield site used for Gettysburg Battlefield camps after the American Civil War such as the 1933–37 Camp Renaissance Civilian Conservation Corps camp. History Pitzer Woods was the site of July 1st & 2nd ...

monument. In 1918, various military camp sites (e.g.,

Camp Colt Camp may refer to: Outdoor accommodation and recreation * Campsite or campground, a recreational outdoor sleeping and eating site * a temporary settlement for nomads * Camp, a term used in New England, Northern Ontario and New Brunswick to desc ...

) were located in th
"Field of Pickett's Charge"
between the Seminary and Cemetery ridges. (source
p. 995 of annual report
The

North Carolina Monument The North Carolina Monument is a North Carolina memorial of the American Civil War commemorating the 32 Carolina regiments in action at the Battle of Gettysburg. The monument is a public artwork by American sculptor Gutzon Borglum located on ...

was placed on the ridge in 1929. The

Civilian Conservation Corps The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was a major part o ...

(CCC) built the 1938 Civil War veteran's camp for the 75th Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg and performed

landscaping through 1941. Construction had begun c. November 1933 :a. :b. :c. for Gettysburg CCC camp "NP-2", which opened May 26, 1934 on Seminary Ridge and closed in 1941. Renamed from "MP-2", camp NP-2 was in McMillan Woods, while a different CCC camp was in Pitzer Woods ("MP-1"/"NP-1") from 1935 until closing in April 1937. The Pitzer's Woods camp was for reforestation and a 1933 "cyclone" blew all 45 tents down (200 trees were downed at the Round Tops). :a. :b. :c. (commandant Thomas,

Third Service Command The Army Service Forces was one of the three autonomous components of the United States Army during World War II, the others being the Army Air Forces and Army Ground Forces, created on 9 March 1942. By dividing the Army into three large command ...

) :d. The "Gettysburg Company 1355, C.C.C." celebrated their 8th anniversary in 1941.

World War II and post-war

During 1943-4, Camp Sharpe at the former Pitzer Woods CCC camp NP-1 trained soldiers for

psychological operations Psychological warfare (PSYWAR), or the basic aspects of modern psychological operations (PsyOp), have been known by many other names or terms, including Military Information Support Operations ( MISO), Psy Ops, political warfare, "Hearts and ...

in the

European Theater of Operations The European Theater of Operations, United States Army (ETOUSA) was a Theater of Operations responsible for directing United States Army operations throughout the European theatre of World War II, from 1942 to 1945. It commanded Army Ground Fo ...

, and adjacent to Camp Sharpe was a 1944-6 POW camp at CCC camp NP-2 in McMillan Woods. Following the 1950 purchase of the Eisenhower farm, the US Secret Service monitored the tourists using the top of the nearby Longstreet Tower, and the Pitzer Woods amphitheater was constructed in the 1960s The Adams County Historical Society moved to the seminary's Old Dorm on the ridge in 1961, and the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artist ...

added Old Dorm in 1974 (the Gettysburg Armory in 1990). In 1982, the Tennessee State Memorial on West Confederate Avenue was the last confederate state memorial to be dedicated, and the memorial to James Longstreet was erected in Pitzer Woods in 1998 after being planned in 1941. The ridge's Historic Preservation Foundation at 61 Seminary Ridge Av was formed on April 29, 1999.

References

{{Gettysburg Campaign, state=collapsed Civilian Conservation Corps in Pennsylvania Gettysburg Battlefield Landforms of Adams County, Pennsylvania Ridges of Pennsylvania