Gettysburg Rock Carvings 2 with Gettysburg Licensed Battlefield Guide Tim Smith

Gettysburg Licensed Battlefield Guide Tim Smith is the co-author of the book Devil’s Den, A History and Guide from Thomas Publications. He continues our look at Gettysburg Rock Carvings underneath the “Table Rock” in the Devil’s Den area. This view was taken facing southwest at approximately 3:15 PM on Thursday, July 9, 2009.

Gettysburg Licensed Battlefield Guide Tim Smith begins a series on Gettysburg Rock Carvings. Tim is a native of Baltimore, Maryland, and has been a Licensed Battlefield Guide at Gettysburg National Military Park since 1992. Tim is the Research Historian for the Adams County Historical Society, and has written numerous articles, booklets, and books about the Gettysburg area. Tim is the co-author with Gettysburg Licensed Battlefield Guide Garry Adelman of Devil’s Den, A History and Guide.

In our first post, Gettysburg Licensed Battlefield Guide Tim Smith began our tour of Gettysburg Rock Carvings at Devil’s Den. He introduced us to the rock carvings and explained how the government chiseled away many of the rock carvings in 1894. In today’s post Tim shows us more items around the Table Rock area, and how the angle of the sun helps find rock carvings.

See the following posts with Tim Smith:

ACHS Battle of Gettysburg Civil War Research Room on February 10, 2009.
Lutheran Theological Seminary Cupola Part 1 on February 12, 2009.
Lutheran Theological Seminary Cupola Part 2 on February 16, 2009.

This map shows us the locations taken of videos for the Gettysburg Rock Carvings series. Video #1 was taken in the Slaughter Pen. Videos #2 and #3 were taken in the area of the “balancing rock” or “table rock” at Devil’s Den. Video #4 was taken in the passageway underneath the “table rock.” Video #5 was taken on the west side of the Table Rock. Video #6 was taken southwest of the Table Rock. This map was created facing north at approximately 5:30 PM on Thursday, July 16, 2009.

In Video #4 (Videos #1-#3 were shown in our previous Rock Carvings post) Gettysburg Licensed Battlefield Guide Tim Smith is in the passageway underneath the Table Rock and shows us more “scratch outs” by the “government chiselers.” This view was taken facing southwest at approximately 3:15 PM on Thursday, July 9, 2009.

Licensed Battlefield Guide Tim Smith has now moved west of the Table Rock to point out the graffiti that has appeared in the last year. This view was taken facing east at approximately 3:15 PM on Thursday, July 9, 2009.

In Video #5 Tim Smith shows how graffiti attracts more graffiti, and how from this angle the Table Rock resembles a cartoon character. This view was taken facing east at approximately 3:15 PM on Thursday, July 9, 2009.

Tim Smith is searching for a John Houck carving on this rock southwest of the Table Rock. This view was taken facing southeast at approximately 3:15 PM on Thursday, July 9, 2009.

In Video #6 Tim Smith shows us how seeing rock carvings many times depends on the angle of the sun. This view was taken facing southeast at approximately 3:15 PM on Thursday, July 9, 2009.

Tim Smith is the co-author with Gettysburg Licensed Battlefield Guide Garry Adelman of Devil’s Den, A History and Guide. It was first published by Thomas Publications, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania in 1997. This cover was scanned facing south at approximately 8:00 PM on Tuesday, July 14, 2009.

To see other posts by Gettysburg Licensed Battlefield Guides, click here.