The Big Round Top

Big Round Top

Big Round Top is a boulder-strewn hill notable as the topographic high point of the Gettysburg Battlefield and for 1863 American Civil War engagements for which Medals of Honor were awarded...

 Observation Tower Foundation Ruin is the 19th century base of the 1st Cope Truss tower. Fred Lyons of Baltimore led the construction team that moved the foundation's granite blocks to the Big Round Top

Big Round Top

Big Round Top is a boulder-strewn hill notable as the topographic high point of the Gettysburg Battlefield and for 1863 American Civil War engagements for which Medals of Honor were awarded...

 summit using block and tackle

Block and tackle

A block and tackle is a system of two or more pulleys with a rope or cable threaded between them, usually used to lift or pull heavy loads.The pulleys are assembled together to form blocks so that one is fixed and one moves with the load...

 driven by a 12 horsepower engine.

History

Constructed on the Gettysburg Battlefield

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 4 acre site of the first shot & at on the west of the borough, to East...

's highest hill, the Big Round Top tower was to be replaced for the 1938 anniversary reunion by a stone "Gettysburg Peace Memorial" with a 75-foot-high observation deck

Observation deck

__FORCETOC__ An observation deck, observation platform or viewing platform is an elevated sightseeing platform usually situated upon a tall architectural structure such as a skyscraper or observation tower...

 above the summit and a flame 30 feet higher. (The memorial was instead erected

Eternal Light Peace Memorial

The Eternal Light Peace Memorial is a 1938 Gettysburg Battlefield monument commemorating the 1913 "reconciliation of our people North and South after the lapse of only 50 years since they had fought" in the 1863 Battle of Gettysburg...

 on Oak Hill.) During 1968 tower maintenance

Bridge maintenance

Maintenance of today's bridge infrastructure presents many challenges. Transportation engineering and maintenance personnel must maintain around the clock service to millions of people each year while maintaining millions of cubic meters of concrete distributed throughout their facilities. This...

, the Schlesser Demolition Co dismantled the Big Round Top tower as uneconomical due to "its condition and the very limited use [due to an uphill, lengthy, and serpentine trail.] Most who started the climb gave out enroute, and upon reaching the tower decided against continuing the climb to the top of the metal observatory" (GNMP Superintendent George F. Emery

Emery (name)

- Emery as given name :* Emery Barnes , a football player and Canadian politician* George Washington Emery Dorsey , a U.S. Congressional Representative from Nebraska...

). The foundation ruin (park structure RU05) of the "national landmark" tower, was "entered-documented" as a historic site on January 23, 2004.