08 09 Meeting Circle Part 1

How to Find Witness Trees 08 and 09

Go to the north end of the parking area at the summit of Little Round Top. Begin taking the path that leads west to the ledge. Almost immediately to the right you will see a large, paved area in the shape of a circle. Between the path and the circle is a hickory tree: this is Witness Tree 09. On the southwest side of the circle, between the path and the interpretive signs, stands Witness Tree 08, a large white oak.

Witness Trees 08 and 09

Witness Tree 08 is a quite large white oak with a diameter of well over a yard. A large burl is growing from the south side of the trunk at its base. Witness Tree 09 is a slow-growing bitternut hickory. It is the only tree standing in the boulder-filled space between the walking path and paved circle.

Then-and-Now Comparisons

Our first then-and-now is based on a 1920s photograph that captures all four witness trees standing around the paved circle (to be used, hopes the NPS, as a gathering space for large groups). Note the cars facing south (label “A”). In the 1920s, Sykes Avenue still looped twice to the western ledge of Little Round Top. The cars here have just returned from the northern loop, and are parked where the gathering circle is today. The two center cars, with their short hoods, are likely electric cars. Above label “B” is a small house, likely a guard shelter, a place for one of the park’s guards to sit. Note the matching rocks at “C”. The walking path in former times went between Witness Trees 08 and 09, but today it lays to the south of Witness Tree 09. Historical photograph courtesy of the Boardman Photograph Collection.

This NPS photograph from the 1930s captures Witness Trees 08 and 09, with Tree 08, the curving white oak, rising directly behind Tree 08. A bucket in the road indicates that the photographer was capturing images of construction taking place at the summit of Little Round Top. Label “A” identifies the tablet for Brig. Gen. Stephen Weed’s 3rd Brigade. Note the matching boulder peeking out from behind and towards the right of the tablet in both images. Historical photo courtesy of NPS, GNMP, Museum Collection, Gett #41113.

In 1937, the sidewalk fronting the stone wall on the west side of the parking area of Little Round Top underwent reconstruction. Note the large boulder “B” which has been protruding through the wall since at least the 1930s. The photographer also captured much of the equipment of the workers in the older photograph. Witness Tree 08 can be seen with its distinctive curve and double stems high above the ground in the distance. Tree “A” is Witness Tree 03, a white oak. Historical photograph courtesy of NPS, GNMP, Museum Collection, Gett #41113.

Other Photographs

The first set of images below are of white oak Witness Tree 08. Note the large burl growing from the base of the trunk in the second image.

The second set of images below are of Witness Tree 09, a bitternut hickory.