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Other Historic Site Info
History Under Siege 2010
Civil War Preservation TrustTop Ten Most Endangered Sites
Site, State, Threat
Camp Allegheny, WV - Wind Turbine construction.
Cedar Creek, VA - Mining Operation
Fort Stevens, DC - Commercial Development
Gettysburg, PA - Gettysburg Casino project
Picacho Peak, AZ - Budget problems
Pickett's Mill, GA - Budget problems, flooding.
Richmond, KY - New highway interchange, development pressure.
South Mountains, MD - Natural gas compression station.
Thoroughfare Gap, VA - Cell phone tower.
Wilderness, VA - Wal-Mart and commercial center.
Fifteen At-Risk Sites: Belmont, MO and Columbus, KY; Chicamauga, GA; Harpers Ferry, WV; Honey Springs, OK; Knoxville, TN; Manassas, VA; Mobile AL; Monocacy, MD; Monterey Pass, PA; New Market Heights, VA; Petersburg, VA; Resaca, GA; Third Winchester, VA; Williamsburg, VA; Wilson's Creek, MO.
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Gettysburg Countryclub Land
September 2010
It has not been completed yet, but it looks as if the majority of the Gettysburg Country Club land will become part of Gettysburg National Military Park. Plans are under way to incorporate 95 acres (15 will remain in private hands) that saw significant fighting during the 1st day of the battle, including fighting by the famed Iron Brigade and General Pettigrew's troops (Pettigrew's men would also take part in Pickett's Charge, although for some reason, get less reknown for that than Pickett's men). This will add a great area of interpretation for the 1st day of battle and prevent up to 3.5 houses per acre being built on the tract. Thanks to the developer, the Conservation Fund, and the Park Service for moving in this direction.
Gettysburg Casino Hearing
August 2010
The first public hearing on the Gettysburg Casino project will be held in Gettysburg on August 31, 2010 at 10 a.m. It will be held in the Comfort Suites hotel on Baltimore Street, just down from the new Visitor Center. If you wish to register to speak at the hearing, or wish to send in your comments against this terrible proposal via the web, you can do so at the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board site. Please help us, and No Casino Gettysburg, stop this proposal and keep America's most historic small town for education, reflection, and history.
Valley Forge Discovery
July 2010
Archaeologists working at Valley Forge National Military Park have just unearthed proof of a long rumored addition to Washington's Headquarters. The dining room cabin, built behind the headquarters during the encampment for extra space used for dining and meetings had been mentioned in a letter by Martha Washington, but never before found. The dig is currently ongoing and you can see it during your car or shuttle tour of the site.
Gulf Coast National Parks
June 2010
Efforts are underway to protect the lands at some of the Gulf of Mexico region's National Parks in the wake of the disaster caused by the gulf oil spill. Staff at Gulf Islands National Seashore and Everglades National Park are hard at work to minimize any effect this might cause.
Civil War History Under Siege
May 2010
This year's edition of the Civil War Preservation Trusts History Under Siege report has been issued. Ten sites in great danger have been listed, including Camp Allegheny, WV; Cedar Creek, VA; Fort Stevens, DC; Gettysburg, PA; Picacho Peak, AZ; Pickett's Mill, GA; Richmond, KY; South Mountains, MD; Thoroughfare Gap, VA; and Wilderness, VA. They also include fifteen others that are at risk. The Gettysburg situation is reaching its head with two issues at the forefront, the Gettysburg casino plan for a site 1/2 mile from the park, as well as the Gettysburg Countryclub land, which has been sold to a developer. To read more abou the Gettysburg fight, go to our Preservation Gettysburg page. For more info about the CWPT and the History Under Siege report, click here.
Free Admission Days
May 2010
We know the economy is still tough and the National Park Service does, too. Take a trip to one of the great national treasures on one of the six free admission days and take in some of the great nature and history they have to offer. There are two days in June (5-6), two days in August (15-16), as well as September 25 and November 11, Veterans Day. It'll be one great day for you and your crew.
On Their Way Up and Down, National Park Stats of 2009
April 2010
The stats are in and they're showing more than a few ups and downs in the attendance numbers for our favorite national parks. Once again, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park retains its position as the top visited National Park and Historic Site while the Blue Ridge Parkway is the highest attended national park unit overall. And jumping into the top ten is the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historic Park. To take a look at the full top ten, as well as those that rose or slid in 2009, check out the America's Best History Stat page.
National Park Week
April 2010
Take the time to enjoy one of our national parks during National Park Week from April 17-25. And this year, you can make the trip back to nature and history for FREE. The National Park Service is waiving all entrance fees to their 392 parks, national monuments, and military parks during this week. Now get outside, or inside, and enjoy the treasures of the United States. You'll be glad you did.
Casino and Land Protection Battle Continues at Gettysburg
April 2010
The Mason-Dixon Casino Resort has officially filed application for a casino license on April 7, 2010, for their property only 1/2 mile from Gettysburg National Military Park. Four other applicants have also filed. The battle now shifts to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, who will select the location for this available license.
News on the Gettysburg protection front keeps adding problems as a local bank has now sold the Gettysburg Countryclub, located within the park boundaries and site of critical first day fighting, to a developer with the potential for 420 new homes on historic land. This sale, which was done while preservation groups were attempting to purchase the property, and who would still like to do so, is another example of the siege that is going on around Gettysburg, only put on hold during this economic downturn, but which has not gone away. With the new proposed casino project and developers getting ready to pounce again, it's important not to forget this fight to protect America's most historic small town. For more on this fight, check out our page on Preservation Gettysburg.
Protection Victory for Glacier National Park
March 2010
A historic agreement has been reached between Montana and British Columbia, protecting the Flathead River Valley from future mining and mineral production and maintaining the habitat for wildlife just north of the Glacier National Park, and its feeder system of water resources that are critical in the area.
Composer Stirs Up Oregon Trail in Music
February 2010
It's not often you're made aware of something that stis the historic soul, but that's just what Timothy Scott Misner has done with his new musical composition with multiple songs by Timothy Scott Misner called "Sketches from the Oregon Trail." Stirring. Great. Time the time to stop by his site. Worth a listen and perhaps a performance near you.
Florida Park Sites Perfect for Winter Fun
January 2010
Don't just visit the mouse! There's so much historical and natural wonders in the state of Florida, and winter is the perfect time to visit Cape Canaveral National Seashore with hits pristine beaches or Everglades National Park with its creatures of nature or even St. Augustine and visit forts and other such history. Take a day or two on your Disney vacation to see some of the other wonders of Florida. You'll be glad you did.
Historic Site News and Information
Gettysburg Casino Backers File Appeal
June 2011
Mason-Dixon resort filed an appeal with the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on June 20, 2011, challenging the decision of the gaming control board that denied them a license to operate one half mile from the Gettysburg National Military Park. The board awarded the license to the Nemacolin Resort south of Pittsburgh. Even though their first appeal to the Pennsylvania Gaming Board was denied, the backers of a casino are continuing their effort to bring casino gambling to Gettysburg. Whether they are successful in their attempts or not this time, this points out the necessity for the Pennsylvania state bill that would ban a casino from being placed within 10 miles of a national military park. With an additinoal license to be granted in 2017, let's urge PA lawmakers to prevent another repeat of this process and safeguard Gettysburg National Military Park from a casino.
Revolutionary War Shuttle at Valley Forge
June 2011
The free shuttle takes visitors around the park during summer days, plus Memorial Day weekend, dropping them off at various locations, including the Muhlenberg Huts, the Memorial Arch, Washington's Headquarters, Varnum's Headquarters. There is also a tour shuttle with interpretation for a fee. There have been lots of good additions to the interpretation at Valley Forge over the last several years, including a new display center in the train station at Washington's Headquarters and story benches around the park. Check it out this summer if you're in the area.
Rekindle Freedom @ Statue of Liberty
May 2011
It just comes even more greatly to mind with the events of the last day of April in a far off place like Pakistan, how important it is of the freedoms we enjoy provided by our ideas of liberty and freedom, plus the patriotic sacrifice of those who protect us. As a reminder, the Statue of Liberty sits in the harbor of New York, with its sister site Ellis Island. If you've never been to these two wonderful natioanal treasures, make a plan to go. It makes for a wonderful day and even includes a ferry ride or two.
Gettysburg Casino Application Denied
April 2011
Gettysburg Casino application denied by the Pennsylvania Casino Control Board on a 6-1 vote, awarding the license to Nemacolin resort south of Pittsburgh at their meeting on April 14. Great thanks goes to the No Casino Gettysburg group, the Civil War Trust, and other preservation organizations who fought against this proposal. For those that haven't had the chance, you can still watch the wonderful videos here put together by the No Casino Gettysburg and Civil War Preservation Trust coaltion. It includes well known people who are against the casino idea, including Sam Waterston, Matthew Broderick, Ken Burns, and others.
Fort Sumter 150th Anniversary
April 2011
From April 9-17, Fort Sumter and Charleston will be celebrating the 150th anniversary of the initial engagement of the Civil War. With a variety of reenactments, walks and talks, and a whole lot else, this first celebration of the 150th, which will go on for four years over the hundreds of civil war history sites from coast to coast, will set the stage for the reasons and actions that precipitated it all. For more information on the activities and site, visit our Fort Sumter and the NPS official webpage at Fort Sumter National Monument.
Smokey Mountains Again Heads the List
March 2011
Yes, they've done it again. The Great Smokey Mountain National Park heads the list of historic and national parks with the greatest attendance in the system at 9,463,538 visitors. Ahead of them among park units, but in a different category to us (NRA, Parkway, NSR, etc.), is the Blue Ridge Parkway and Golden Gate National Recreation Areas. For more on the winners and losers on National Park Service attendance in 2010, go to our page on Historic Site Attendance Statistics.
Jefferson National Expansion Memorial
March 2011
It's gonna be an exciting time at the old Gateway Arch in St. Louis over the next five years as an expansion of the park, plus new landscape and museum design features are put in place to make the visitor experience there augment that wonderful ride to the top of the arch. It's gonna include a cable car ride across the Mississippi River to the new parkland in Illinois, too. Sounds like a wonderful addition to the story of western expansion told through the arch and its museums. Photo link below courtesy of the National Park Conservation Association.
Reseca Battlefield Taking Shape
February 2011
No, there's not much there now. One monument and difficult access, but the hope is, that by the 150th anniversay of the Battle of Reseca in 2014, the first major battle of the Atlanta Campaign, that that will all change. Through the effort of a local preservation group, what was once a completely forgotten landscape is on the way to becoming a State Historic Site with roads, interpretation, and a visitor center. And now there's even more acreage being added to the site. The Civil War Trust has now embarked on a campaign to save 538 acres of the Reseca/Dallas tracts. This battle, which was fought in 1864 with 170,000 Union and Confederate troops, was part of the Sherman march through Georgia.
New Additions to the NPS
January 2011
Two recent additions to the National Park Services. One from Michigan. And no, it's not a play from Kellogg, although there is a cereal sounding tie to tne new National Park, #393, in the National Park system. River Raisin National Battlefied Park, (so new the website if still pretty bare) honoring the five day War of 1812 battle from January 18-23 one year later that saw only 33 men out of 1,000 who fought for the USA not captured or killed, is now open for history tourist in southern Michigan near Monroe. And #394, in Hope, Arkansas, the boyhood home of President William Jefferson Clinton. This is the 21st home of a U.S. President now in the Park Service system.
Small Attractions at Big Places
December 2010
A new addition this year to the Gettysburg Steinwehr Avenue private museum attractions list is the fine Gettysburg History Center, including the Diorama of the entire battle in miniature. This is a true gem! A painstaking recreation of the battle with over 20,000 soldiers and a light and sound show that all ages will enjoy. Don't miss this when traveling to Gettysburg. For more info, go to the Gettysburg Diorama.
Wilderness Preservation
November 2010
Althought much of the focus on the preservation side othe Wilderness battlefield portion of Fredericksburg National Military Park has been on stopping Wal-Mart from being a neighbor, a new opportunity for preservation of 49 acres of Saunder Field has come through the Civil War Preservation Trust. To donate and see how you can help, go the the civil.org website. It's not a cheap piece of land and there is no matching funds available, so any help would be appreciated.
Ellis Island Oral Histories
October 2010
One of the most spectacular historic sites in the United States has now added some of its splendor online. Listen to the oral history of some of the immigrants who traveled past the Statue of Liberty to the immigration center in New York harbor and helped make America great. Click the link below to go to ancenstry.com which is hosting the stories recorded by the National Park Service.
