For more than 60 years the National Trust for Historic Preservation has been a leader in saving historic places nationwide, including sites and battlefields related to the American Civil War, the defining conflict of the nation.
When the Disney Company sought to open a theme park not far from the battlefields in the historic Haymarket area of Virginia’s Piedmont region, the National Trust led the campaign to stop them, and won.
When a race course was slated to be built on Brandy Station Battlefield in Virginia, the Trust was part of a coalition that raised the alarm, stopped the development, and secured the site’s preservation.
When Wal-Mart planned to build a Supercenter within the boundaries of Wilderness Battlefield, the National Trust joined with partners in the Wilderness Battlefield Coalition, as well as members and supporters across the country, to convince Wal-Mart to select an alternate site.
And when a developer not once, but twice, petitioned the Pennsylvania State Gaming Control Board to build a casino near Gettysburg National Military Park, the Trust and other local and national preservation groups successfully advocated for the denial of those proposals.
In addition, National Trust Historic Sites in the South and Mid-Atlantic – most notably Belle Grove, site of the Battle of Cedar Creek, and President Lincoln’s Cottage, used as a summer White House – have strong ties to the people and stories of the Civil War.
Learn more at PreservationNation.org/civilwar.
