Monday, June 18, 2007
Power Lines Through Historic Sites
This is easy--they must redirect new power lines around the historic battlefields. If the concern is just that the power lines will be visible from the sites, well--there's already a road carrying busloads of tourists running down Cemetery Ridge and up Little Round Top. Seeing power lines in the distance isn't going to detract from the Gettysburg Battlefield any more than those already do.
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2 comments:
I agree with your solution that the wires should be directed around the battlefields. I visited Antietam battlefield. While it is well-preserved it was not staffed. I walked wherever I wanted and I enjoyed my visit. The problem is that we are losing our historic sites. They must be preserved and I hope there will always be passionate defenders for these sites.
Wait until you see the San Jacinto Battlefield. Civilization encroaches all around the place (for the uninitiated, it is wedged between Baytown and Pasadena, TX, near Houston). Approaching from the north, one takes a ferry across the San Jacinto River/Houston Ship Channel to reach it. Power lines are everywhere, and very much in sight. When you reach the top of the battlefield monument there, you look out - and you see North America's third-longest cable stayed bridge over the Ship Channel, refineries, and oil tanks all around.
But for all of this development, the State of Texas has done an admirable job of keeping the battlefield itself, and its immediate vicinity, relatively development free. However, expect signs of civilization all around you. Of course, I can't imagine that is what the place looked like in 1836!
(Another TX history note: I still can't get over the number of people who are disappointed that the Alamo is not out in the countryside somewhere, but rather in the heart of a huge city!)
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