Seminary Ridge Seminary Ridge is a dendritic ridge which was an area of Battle of Gettysburg engagements during the American Civil War and of military installation s during World War II . Geography . Seminary Ridge is a northern portion of the drainage divide between the Marsh Creek Watershed on the west and the Rock Creek Watershed ( east ) . At the south end of Oak Ridge ( the northernmost portion of the divide ) , the north - south McPherson and Seminary ridges bifurcate southward at the triple watershed point of Willoughby and Pitzer runs ( southward tributaries of Marsh Creek ) with a Rock Creek eastward tributary . From the triple point , Seminary Ridge extends southward to an area with eastward drainage into the Rock Cr tributary ( Stevens Creek ) , with the borough of Gettysburg , and with the TBD . Farther south into the Gettysburg National Park , Seminary Ridge continues as far as a branch of Pitzer Run , which divides the ridgeline ( ) , around which the drainage divide curves to the east . The ridgeline continues south of the branch , crossing the Millerstown Road . Between the Millerstown and Emmitsburg road crossings , the west side of the ridgeline is an elevated area ( hornfel along the northwest edge of a diabase sheet ) about 1 mile wide along the Emmitsburg Road . Along this east side of this elevated area , the ridgeline is Warfield Ridge , the southernmost portion of Seminary Ridge near the south end of the Gettysburg Battlefield . South of the tip of Seminary / Warfield Ridge tip , the Marsh / Rock creeks ' drainage divide continues about 4 miles to near the Mason - Dixon Line at their confluence to form the Monocacy River . The portion of Seminary Ridge on the western side of Gettysburg , Pennsylvania includes the railroad cut behind houses north of Buford Avenue and the historic Gettysburg Armory . Extending south are Schultz Woods , Spangler Woods , Berdan Woods , the McMillan Woods Youth Campground , Pitzer Woods , Biesecker ' s Woods , and the 1895 Longstreet Tower , which provides an observation platform for the " southern end " of Seminary Ridge ( Warfield Ridge ) . The Eisenhower National Historic Site on the west of the ridge is visible from the tower . Seminary Ridge Avenue and the sections of West Confederate Avenue ( northwest and southwest ) generally extend along the landform ' s ridgeline and provide access to on the ridge , including the prominent Virginia Monument . Seminary Ridge is crossed by Buford and Springs avenues , as well as West Middle Street . South Seminary Ridge . South Seminary Ridge is a Gettysburg Battlefield landform south of an east - west branch of Pitzer Run , which separates South Seminary Ridge from a separate landform to the north on the west of Gettysburg with the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg . South of the Pitzer Run branch , the ridgeline of South Seminary Ridge extends from Pitzer Woods , across the Millerstown Road , past the Longstreet Tower to the Emmitsburg Road and on to the southernmost state memorial on the battlefield ( Alabama ) , which is just west of the right flank marker for the Confederate Line . Warfield Ridge is a portion of South Seminary Ridge southward to the Alabama Memorial , and the ridge landform continues southward out of the Gettysburg National Park to where Ridge Road is on the crest . History . The 1761 Samuel Gettys tavern was built near the ridge at the crossroads east of Stevens Creek , and it preceded both the c . 1812 construction of the Chambersburg Pike across the ridge and the nearby " Gettysburg Theological Seminary " being established on the ridge on August 1 , 1926 . In 1832 , Old Dorm ( now Schmucker Hall ) was built , and Pennsylvania College ( now Gettysburg College ) was started on the east side of the ridge . On the ridge along the Chambersburg Pike , the Thaddeus Stevens building near the seminary ( used for Robert E . Lee ' s 1863 headquarters ) was built in 1834 . At the time of the battle , the section of the ridge at the extension of West Middle St ( the Hagerstown Rd ) was known as " Haupt ' s Hill " . Civil War and postbellum . Seminary Ridge was the site of Battle of Gettysburg fighting on July 1 , 1863 , as well as a Pitzer Woods engagement on July 2 . Robert E . Lee established his headquarters on the ridge just north of the Chambersburg pike , and the ridge also served as the Confederate line of battle for July 2 & 3 attacks against Union Army positions on Cemetery Ridge . On July 3 , 500 men in George Pickett ' s division were killed / wounded on Seminary Ridge ( including 88 lost in one regiment of Kemper ' s Brigade ) from the Federal artillery counterfire prior to Pickett ' s Charge . The last hospital patient of the seminary ' s Old Dorm left on September 16 , 1863 . Longstreet Tower ( No . 2 of five at Gettysburg ) was built on the ridge by the War Department in 1895 . West Confederate Avenue was built at the turn of the 20th century for Seminary Ridge tourism , while Sharpshooters Avenue ( named Berdan Avenue by 1930 ) was extended from W Confederate Avenue in 1917 for access to a Pitzer Woods monument . In 1918 , various military camp sites ( e . g . , Camp Colt ) were located in the " Field of Pickett ' s Charge " between the Seminary and Cemetery ridges . The North Carolina Monument was placed on the ridge in 1929 . The Civilian Conservation Corps ( CCC ) built the 1938 Civil War veteran ' s camp for the 75th Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg and performed Gettysburg Battlefield landscaping through 1941 . Construction had begun c . November 1933 for Gettysburg CCC camp " NP - 2 " , which opened May 26 , 1934 on Seminary Ridge and closed in 1941 . Renamed from " MP - 2 " , camp NP - 2 was in McMillan Woods , while a different CCC camp was in Pitzer Woods ( " MP - 1 " / " NP - 1 " ) from 1935 until closing in April 1937 . The Pitzer ' s Woods camp was for reforestation and a 1933 " cyclone " blew all 45 tents down ( 200 trees were downed at the Round Tops ) . The " Gettysburg Company 1355 , C . C . C . " celebrated their 8th anniversary in 1941 . World War II and post - war . During 1943 - 4 , Camp Sharpe at the former Pitzer Woods CCC camp NP - 1 trained soldiers for psychological operations in the European Theater of Operations , and adjacent to Camp Sharpe was a 1944 - 6 POW camp at CCC camp NP - 2 in McMillan Woods . Following the 1950 purchase of the Eisenhower farm , the US Secret Service monitored the tourists using the top of the nearby Longstreet Tower , and the Pitzer Woods amphitheater was constructed in the 1960s The Adams County Historical Society moved to the seminary ' s Old Dorm on the ridge in 1961 , and the National Register of Historic Places added Old Dorm in 1974 ( the Gettysburg Armory in 1990 ) . In 1982 , the Tennessee State Memorial on West Confederate Avenue was the last confederate state memorial to be dedicated , and the memorial to James Longstreet was erected in Pitzer Woods in 1998 after being planned in 1941 . The ridge ' s Historic Preservation Foundation at 61 Seminary Ridge Av was formed on April 29 , 1999 .