The National Park Service announced this week that it was awarding its first grants under the new Battlefield Restoration Grants program. Four sites were selected to receive a total of $345,000. This new program provides matching funds to Tribal, State, and local governments and nonprofit organizations to help restore battlefields. According to the National Park Service, Battlefield Restoration Grants “support projects that restore “day-of-battle” conditions at nationally significant American Revolution, War of 1812, and Civil War battlefields and associated historic sites. The awards are made possible by the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which reinvests revenue from offshore oil and natural gas leasing to help strengthen conservation and recreation opportunities across the nation.”
The American Battlefield Trust received a $62,500 grant for its Pathway to Gettysburg project. The National Park Service explained the purpose of the grant:
With financial support from a Battlefield Restoration Grant from the American Battlefield Protection Program, the American Battlefield Trust will synthesize research on the civilian landscape at Seminary Ridge, including the Mary Thompson House, the James Thompson House, the Dustman Barn, and the ruins of the Alexander Riggs House; all properties that witnessed the opening stages of the battle. The Trust’s plan will build upon previous research to gain a complete understanding of the Seminary Ridge landscape and provide a roadmap to restoring day-of-battle conditions to a viewshed essential to visitors’ experience at the Gettysburg Battlefield.
$175,000 was awarded to American Battlefield Trust for restoration of the Brandy Station battlefield. The well-known cavalry battle took place in Virginia in the weeks prior to Gettysburg. The National Park Service described how the grant will be used:
…the American Battlefield Trust will develop a comprehensive report on the landscape features of the Brandy Station Battlefield, including the archeological remains of fighting and historic buildings that witnessed the battle. The report will also explore lesser-known stories, such as the experiences of enslaved and freed African Americans as the battle came to Elkwood Downs plantation. The American Battlefield Trust hopes that the report’s findings will lead to the continued preservation of these resources and narratives ahead of the battlefield’s incorporation into Virginia’s new Culpeper Battlefields State Park.
The Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation was awarded $80,000 for the site of the Virginia battle known as Third Winchester. The National Park Service says the grant “builds on the successful acquisition of the Huntsberry Farm property in 2009. With the assistance of a Battlefield Land Acquisition Grant, the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation partnered with Virginia’s Department of Conservation and Recreation and Department of Historic Resources to purchase and protect the 209-acre 19th-century farm that was caught in the war’s crossfire. This “forever” purchase, protected in perpetuity by a conservation easement, preserves the Huntsberry Farmstead, which includes the Battery Knoll from which Confederate artillery rained fire on Union forces, and the Middle Field where the bitterest part of the Battle of Third Winchester raged.”
A $28,000 grant is going to the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation. With the grant:
the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation (SVBF) will pave the way to advance the New Market Greenway Trail, an interpreted greenway linking New Market’s downtown with nearly 400 acres of protected battlefield. This grant builds on the successful preservation of the 13-acre River Road tract by SVBF and its state partners, Virginia’s Department of Conservation & Recreation and Department of Historic Resources, with the assistance of a 2018 Battlefield Land Acquisition Grant. SVBF will remove two non-historic buildings to integrate the property into the greenway and, over time, into a more extensive partnership with VMI and the Town of New Market to build a network of trails that connect these landscapes of conflict into a contemporary path towards wellness and renewal.
Note: Feature photo is of the Mary Thompson House at Gettysburg.
Follow Reconstruction Blog on Social Media:
