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Virginia, Maryland lead top 10 list of most endangered battlefields
Three Virginia and two Maryland sites are among the nation’s 10 most endangered battlefields, according to the Civil War Preservation Trust (CWPT).
"History Under Siege: A Guide to America’s Most Endangered Civil War Battlefields," identifies 2009’s most threatened Civil War sites in the United States and what can be done to save them.
• Monocacy, Md., July 9, 1864, is threatened by a planned waste-to-energy facility with a proposed 350-foot-tall smokestack that would be visible from much of the battlefield.
• The Battle of the Wilderness, Va., May 5-7, 1864, is facing an uphill battle to stop Wal-Mart from building a new 138,000-square foot supercenter across Route 3 from the battlefield.
• Port Gibson, Miss., is threatened by a proposal to widen U.S. Route 61, Church Street, through the heart of town.
• Cedar Creek, Va., Oct. 19, 1864, is threatened by the expansion of a limestone mining operation on core battlefield land. Heavy machinery and slag piles from existing quarries are already visible.
• Fort Gaines, Ala., Aug. 5-8, 1864: Recent dredging practices on the Gulf of Mexico have significantly hastened the erosion of Dauphin Island, threatening to cut the island in two. Some 400 feet of historic battlefield already have been erased.
• Gettysburg, Pa., July 1-3, 1863: Many historically significant locations on the battlefield lie outside the boundaries of Gettysburg National Military Park and are vulnerable to residential or commercial development.
• New Market Heights, Va., Sept. 29, 1864, is at the mercy of development with no land protected by preservation organizations. Some significant portions of the battlefield already have been destroyed by a housing development and growing traffic congestion.
• Sabine Pass, Texas, Sept. 8, 1863, was closed to the public after sustaining heavy damage during Hurricane Rita in 2005 and again following Hurricane Ike in 2008.
• South Mountain, Md., Sept. 14, 1862, is threatened by a $55 million natural gas compression station planned nearby.
• Spring Hill, Tenn., Nov. 29, 1864: General Motors is looking to sell to developers approximately 500 acres of unused land associated with the battlefield.
In 2008, the CWPT rescued approximately 1,000 acres of hallowed ground at legendary battlefields such as Champion Hill, Miss.; Bentonville, N.C.; Shiloh, Tenn.; and Brandy Station, Va.
Since its creation two decades ago, CWPT has protected more than 25,000 acres at more than 100 sites in 19 states.
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