Where exactly did Lincoln stand at Gettysburg?

[STS Lincolnite]

Christopher Oakley’s talk at the Lincoln Forum Symposium (where he publicly revealed the results of his work to locate the speaker's platform at Gettysburg) was recorded. Eventually it will be aired on c-span (and be available to stream online). Once available, I would highly encourage everyone to watch. His talk received a standing ovation from the audience. There are lots of great talks given year in and year out at that symposium, but to my recollection that was only the second time a standing ovation was given in my 11 years attending. Christopher is a friend and I had been privy to his findings for some time…and still his talk blew me away.

In reading the New York Times article that David alluded to above, I also read through the comments on the piece. One of the topics of brought up there was whether or not where Lincoln actually spoke from was important or not. There certainly were differing opinions. So, I would love to have a similar discussion here.

Is the spot where Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address important or not? Why or why not?

I have my thoughts but I will wait for a few others to get the discussion going before I weigh in.

I look forward to hearing others' thoughts!