What stone structure’s arch looms in the background?
In covering a litany of conditional use hearings, zoning board hearings and other land use and development matters that seem to hamper economic progress, I wonder if Civil War soldiers had to apply for proper permits to use structures as field hospitals.
I realize the ridiculousness of that. But could you imagine? A Union soldier wheelbarrowing an ailing, bloody body over to a nearby barn, only to be met by a code enforcement officer at the door.
“This property isn’t zoned for medical use,” the officer would tell the soldier, who would have to begin the cumbersome process of applying for either a variance or a zoning amendment. That would undoubtedly take months, during which the ailing body would be a carcass and the Battle of Gettysburg would be an afterthought.
What structure in this week’s selfie was used during the July 1863 battle despite it not being build for such use?