The National Park Service’s American Battlefield Protection Program awarded a record $4.6 million Battlefield Land Acquisition Grant to protect 250acres of the Williamsburg Battlefield in York County, Virginia.
The wooded property witnessed fierce fighting during the Civil War’s 1862 Peninsula Campaign.
Archeological investigations have revealed key details of this battle .
"This grant represents the largest single grant in the American Battlefield Protection Program’s history and underscores the value of historic properties and green spaces outside federal lands. The preservation of this battlefield is the result of nearly a decade of organizing and planning at the local, state and national," said NPS Deputy Director Shawn Benge.
The land is rich with potential and holds many important stories.
Archeologists have located key sites of the battlefield and an earlier plantation on the property that will be acquired and protected with grant funds.
Future research will reveal more about the people and actions that took place on these lands, especially those of African descent who were enslaved at a network of five York County plantations.
Virginia’s Departments of Conservation and Recreation and Historic Resources, with the American Battlefield Trust, will use this grant to protect it and share its varied stories for generations to come.
NPS ABPP’s Battlefield Land Acquisition Grants fund preservation initiatives nationwide to acquire and preserve threatened battlefields on American soil.
In addition, the program administers three other grants:’¯Preservation Planning, Battlefield Interpretation and Battlefield Restoration Grants.
