First Civil War Orientation Center Opens in Valley at McDowell
By Deborah Fitts
June 2005

MCDOWELL, Va. - Proving that interest in the Civil War can prosper even in sparsely populated areas, remote Highland County has proved the first place to establish one of five planned Civil War orientation centers in the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields National Historic District.

The Highland County Historical Society set up a room for the center in its headquarters, an 1851 building in the little village of McDowell that witnessed the battle there May 8, 1862, and served as a field hospital.

U.S. Rep. Bob Goodlatte helped unveil the new center May 7. More than 1,000 people were on hand, according to historical society president Diane Klein. The weekend was also the annual reenactment of the battle, which Klein said drew more than 800 reenactors.

Rural Highland County, with its steep, unpeopled hills, is 35 miles west of Staunton.

The new orientation center features historical panels supplied by the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation, which is shepherding development of the centers. Five such centers are planned throughout the Valley, each supporting "clusters" of battlefields and other Civil War sites.

The McDowell center also shows a 22-minute film on the battle, the first ever made, according to Klein. It was produced by Wide Awake Films and was funded by the federal American Battlefield Protection Program and the Virginia Foundation for the Arts.

The center will be open Fridays and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sundays 1 to 4. Klein predicted that it would also open for a couple of weekdays in the future. Guided tours will be available, or visitors may also take self-guided tours on the battlefield trail. The center will be manned by the society's executive director, Crysta Stanton, the only paid staffer in the organization.

Klein said the establishment of the Civil War center, plus rehabilitation of the house, was "a dream come true for all of us. I feel absolutely delighted, and so gratified by the support we've gotten."

The society purchased the brick structure in 2001 and secured federal and private funds to restore it. Goodlatte was instrumental in providing a one-to-one matching grant of $197,000 from the Save America's Treasures program, according to Klein.

She predicted that the new center would draw tourism to Highland County. "It's a pristine battlefield," she said. "People come here and it is 1862, on a battlefield." The Highland Museum & Heritage Center, which houses the McDowell Civil War Orientation Center, was used as a headquarters and hospital.

A total of 328 acres are preserved at McDowell by four different organizations. The society owns the house and 25 acres. The Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation owns 67 acres and is "working with landowners" to acquire more, said Executive Director Howard Kittell.

The other four visitor centers will be located at Winchester, the area of the Cross Keys and Port Republic battlefields, Newmarket, and the area of the Cedar Creek, Tom's Brook and Fisher's Hill battlefields. Formation of the centers is meant to be largely a local initiative.

Kittell acknowledged that after four years, the establishment of only one of the five centers indicated that "It's a slow process. It's the biggest capital investment outside of buying land. The orientation centers are to be created by local communities, with our encouragement."

Last year in Winchester an interim center began operations in the city's downtown under joint sponsorship of Shenandoah University and the Winchester and Frederick County Convention & Business Bureau. A new, permanent building - providing a home for the second Civil War orientation center - is expected to be completed late next year.

Promoting The District The Virginia General Assembly recently appropriated $140,000 to help promote the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields National Historic District through a coordinated marketing program. The effort will include market research of travelers and Civil War enthusiasts. The funding includes a matching requirement, so the Foundation will be seeking financial assistance from partners for various elements of the program.

In the Harrisonburg-Rockingham County area, local partners recently created a brochure that will help visitors find the sites that tell the central Shenandoah Valley's Civil War story. It is the district's second brochure. In 2003 groups collaborated on one focusing on the Winchester area.

"Rockingham At War" is a full-color, eight-panel piece that tells about the Rockingham area's Civil War experience. Written by local historian John Heatwole, the text traces the story from Confederate Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's battles at Cross Keys and Port Republic through the destruction of civilian farms and mills across the region by Union Gen. Philip Sheridan's cavalry. It includes maps and a list of Civil War sites and attractions in the area.

For information about the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation go to www.ShenandoahAtWar.org.

Copies of the brochure are available through the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Convention & Visitors Bureau at (540) 434-2319.

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