Civil War Preservation Trust Lists 10 ‘most Endangered’ Sites
By Deborah Fitts
April 2002
WASHINGTON, D.C.

A piece of one of the few remaining battlefields at Atlanta, key parcels at Corinth battlefield in Mississippi, and several hundred acres of threatened battlefield at Harpers Ferry in West Virginia are among the top 10 of America's "most endan-gered" Civil War battlefields in 2002, according to the Civil War Preservation Trust.

The Washington-based nonprofit released its second-annual listing Feb. 26, in a press conference at the National Press Club. President James Lighthizer said the prevalence of suburban sprawl was so severe that a hundred battlefields could easily have made the list.

Among the speakers at the gathering was historian, reenactor and preservationist Brian Pohanka, who hailed the importance of the Trust's mis-sion. "Real people risked their lives at these battlefields for ideals they cherished above life itself," Pohanka said. "Allowing these sites to fall prey to development dishonors the memory of their courage and sacri-fice."

Nominations for the dubious honor of the top-10 list rose dramatically this year, according to Trust spokesman Jim Campi. "There really was a lot of enthusiasm for getting listed on the report."

The listing "helps bring attention" to a local preservation effort and can boost a fundraising campaign, he explained.
At Atlanta, the picture is more hopeful than many. In what the Trust is characterizing as a "startling development," city officials, conserva-tionists and a developer have joined forces in an attempt to protect rare Union earthworks near the site of Utoy Creek battlefield.

The property is reportedly the largest undeveloped tract of greenspace left inside the city limits.

At Corinth, portions of the Oct. 3, 1862, battlefield are under threat of commercial development, including a historically significant 9-acre parcel being eyed by a developer that is near the main entrance to the proposed Corinth Battlefield Interpretive Center. The Trust owns 443 acres of the 19,584-acre battlefield, out of 454 acres protected.

At Harpers Ferry, the Trust pointed to a controversial plan to build a 188-home project on the historic, 98-acre Murphy Farm. Also, 280 acres of historic Schoolhouse Ridge are unprotected.

Also making the top-10 list were Bentonville, N.C., where only 240 acres of the 6000-acre site are preserved; Chancellorsville, Va., where in October the Virginia Department of Transportation announced plans for a bypass that is likely to bring sprawl to the battlefield, and where the 781-acre Ashley Farm, scene of much fighting on the first day of the battle, "is likely to be developed"; and Franklin, Tenn., where few opportunities remain to save any of the battlefield.
Also, Gaines’ Mill and Cold Harbor, Va., where there is imminent threat of residential development on two of the least-protected battlefields in the National Park System, and where a housing project, "The Fields of Cold Harbor," is currently under construction; Gettysburg, Pa., where unprotected land at Baltimore Pike and Hunt Avenue, near the site of the park's planned new visitor center, is under threat of "the same sort of chain restaurants and stores" that crowd the current visitor center.

The list also includes Richmond, Ky., where a substantial portion of the 1862 battlefield was included in an "urban development corridor" cre-ated by Madison County in 1999; and Stones River, Tenn., where a proposed road interchange will encroach on the battlefield, and where the Murfreesboro Planning Commission has voted to remove 200 acres of battlefield from a preservation district in order to allow for construction of a medical center.

Campi noted that three of the battlefields — Gettysburg, Harpers Ferry and Stones River — were also included on last year's top-10 list.

The Trust named an additional 15 threatened battlefields, for an overall "top 25." The others are Allatoona, Ga.; Averasboro, N.C.; Bristoe Sta-tion, Va.; Buffington Island, Ohio; Fort Heiman, Ky.; Glorieta, N.M.; Manassas, Va.; Mansfield, La.; McDowell, Va.; Morris Island, S.C.; Pilot Knob, Mo.; Petersburg, Va.; Raymond, Miss.; Stephenson's Depot, Va.; and the Wilderness, Va.

Campi said it had been "extremely difficult" to narrow the list to 10 battlefields.

All of the top-10 sites on last year’s list, the Trust's first, "got some attention" in the intervening year, Campi noted. In the Loudoun Valley, which comprises the cavalry battlefields of Aldie, Middleburg and Upperville, a combination of a new county easement program and land-owner generosity has resulted in more than 1200 acres being placed in permanent easement.

At Stones River, the city abandoned plans to widen a highway through the battlefield. And at Mansfield, the Trust is preparing to launch a fund-raising campaign to buy 30 acres.

The Trust claims 36,000 members, making it the largest nonprofit battlefield-preservation group in the country. Over the years the Trust has helped protect more than 14,000 acres in 18 states. For more information visit the Trust’s web site at www.civilwar.org