Wheatfield Road
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1863 Battle of Gettysburg
1895 Gettysburg National Military Park
1933 National Park Service
US 15 Bus. (Emmitsburg Road)
PA 134 (Taneytown Road)Wheatfield | |
|---|---|
 Map of Adams County in southern Pennsylvania with Wheatfield Road highlighted in red | |
| Route information | |
| Maintained by National Park Service | |
| Length | 1.2 mi[1] (1.9 km) |
| Time period | 1858 mapped by Howe[2] 1863 Battle of Gettysburg 1895 Gettysburg National Military Park 1933 National Park Service |
| Major junctions | |
| West end | US 15 Bus. (Emmitsburg Road) |
| East end | PA 134 (Taneytown Road) |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Pennsylvania |
| Counties | Adams |
| Highway system | |
The Wheatfield Road is a Gettysburg Battlefield crossroad from the Peach Orchard east-southeastward along the north side of The Wheatfield (on the Peach Orchard-Devil's Den ridge),[3] north of the Valley of Death, and over the north foot of Little Round Top. In addition to modern tourist use, the road is notable for Battle of Gettysburg use and postbellum trolley use associated with the 1892-1896 US v. Gettysburg Electric Ry. case of the US Supreme Court.[4]
Wheatfield Road begins at an intersection with US 15 Bus. within Gettysburg National Military Park in Cumberland Township, where the road continues west as Millerstown Road. From here, it heads east-southeast as a two-lane undivided road, heading through fields in the park. The road continues into wooded areas with some fields, passing to the north of Little Round Top. Wheatfield Road comes to an end at an intersection with PA 134 in the community of Round Top, where the road continues east as Blacksmith Shop Road to Baltimore Pike.[1][5]
History
During the Battle of Gettysburg, the dirt Wheatfield Road was used by various Union and Confederate troops (e.g., Crawford's Third Division of Pennsylvania Reserves),[6] and Union troops deployed artillery westward to the Peach Orchard using the road.[3][7] In 1884, the Round Top Branch's wye with double spurs[8] and station was built at the east end of Wheatfield Road, and in 1894 the Gettysburg Electric Railway was laid along a west portion of the road (trolleys also crossed the east end near Round Top Station).[9] In 1895, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania ceded jurisdiction of Wheatfield Road to the War Department,[10] and in 1900 two cast iron identification tablets were placed[where?] to label the road.[11]: '00 The Gettysburg Electric Railway tracks were removed from the Wheatfield Road in 1917 and the road was repaired in 1931.[12] The Wheatfield Road was resurfaced with asphalt west of Sykes Avenue in 1933,[13] and completed "from the Rosensteel pavilion to the Taneytown road" in 1940 by the McMillan Woods Civilian Conservation Corps camp.[14]
Junction list
The entire route is in Adams County.
| Location | mi[1] | km | Destinations | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peach Orchard angle[3] | 0.0 | 0.0 | US 15 Bus. (Emmitsburg Road) | Continues west to Willoughby Run via Millerstown Road | |
| Gettysburg National Military Park | McGilvery Artillery Avenue[15] | Southbound avenue[16] | |||
| 0.1 | 0.16 | Sickles Avenue | Northbound avenue | ||
| 0.21 | 0.34 | Wheatfield Road's Sickles Avenue section "constructed" in 1899[11]: '99 | |||
| 0.3 | 0.48 | Sickles Avenue | Southboun avenue "across Wheatfield")[11]: '96 | ||
| 0.6 | 0.97 | Ayres Avenue | Southboune avenue)[17] | ||
| Plum Run bridge 39°47′49″N 77°14′20″W / 39.7969°N 77.2390°W north of Valley of Death | |||||
| 0.7 | 1.1 | 1898 Crawford Avenue[11]: '98 | Crossroad | ||
| 1.0 | 1.6 | 1897 Sedgwick Avenue and Sykes Avenue[11]: '97 [12] | Crossroad | ||
| Round Top | 1.2 | 1.9 | PA 134 (Taneytown Road) | Continues east to Baltimore Pike via Blacksmith Shop Road | |
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi | |||||
