The National Park Service announced $499,705.96 in grants from the American Battlefield Protection Program to help protect 131.49 acres of America’s battlefields threatened with damage or destruction by urban and suburban development.
These grants will be used to acquire a portion of the Fort Blakeley Battlefield in Alabama, Champion Hill Battlefield in Mississippi, and Spotsylvania Court House Battlefield in Virginia, each a significant Civil War Battlefield.
“Battlefield Land Acquisition Grants allow for the permanent protection of lands associated with historic battles in our country’s history,” National Park Service Deputy Director P. Daniel Smith said. “The grants enable communities to partner with public, private, and non-profit organizations to preserve and provide access to meaningful places that connect us to our past.”
The American Battlefield Protection Program’s Battlefield Land Acquisition Grant program provides up to 50% in matching funds for state and local governments to acquire and preserve threatened Revolutionary War, War of 1812, and Civil War Battlefield land through the purchase of land in fee simple and permanent, protective interests in land. Eligible battlefields are listed in the Civil War Sites Advisory Commission’s 1993 “Report on the Nation’s Civil War Battlefields” and the 2007 “Report to Congress on the Historic Preservation of Revolutionary War and War of 1812 Sites in the United States.”
Alabama
Fort Blakeley Battlefield
Grantee: University of South Alabama
Land Acquired: Fort Blakeley Battlefield, Chippewa Lakes LLC Tract, 59.09 acres (Fee Simple)
Project Partner: American Battlefield Trust
Amount: $293,354
Mississippi
Champion Hill Battlefield
Grantee: Mississippi Department of Archives and History
Land Acquired: Champion Hill Battlefield, Cal-Maine Foods Tract, 58 acres (Fee Simple)
Project Partner: American Battlefield Trust
Amount: $109,806
Virginia
Spotsylvania Court House Battlefield
Grantee: Virginia Department of Conversation and Recreation
Land Acquired: Spotsylvania Court House Battlefield, Fifth Corps Brock Road Tract, 14.4 acres (Easement)
Project Partner: Central Virginia Battlefields Trust
Amount: $96,545.96
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