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OOps...didn't mean to duplicate this. This news was posted elsewhere on the forum and I had missed it. Carry on......
Battle of Richmond site returning to government hands
PURCHASE IS KEY STEP TO CREATING CIVIL WAR TOURIST ATTRACTION
By Peter Mathews, CENTRAL KENTUCKY BUREAU
01/06/2003
Lexington Herald-Leader
RICHMOND - More than 140 years after Gen. Kirby Smith's Confederates
wrested the land from an inexperienced Union force, part of the Battle of
Richmond site is in government hands again.
Yesterday, National City Bank executives bid $1.4 million for a 206.6-acre
parcel on behalf of Madison County. The bank held a $2.6 million lien on
the property from developer Jerry C. Fritz.
The purchase is a key step in an effort by the Battle of Richmond
Association and Madison County to create a tourist attraction that could
generate $8 million or more a year, with walking trails and exhibits at the
historic buildings in the area. The parcel includes Battlefield Golf and
Country Club, which will now be open to the public.
"I'm elated," said Judge-Executive Kent Clark. "Five, 10, 20 years from
now, this will be one of the five or six things the county did" that people
will remember.
"It's something everybody's proud of," he said.
It is the first time that preservationists have reclaimed a major battle
site after development, said James Lighthizer, president of the Civil War
Preservation Trust. The non-profit national group lists the Richmond site
as one of the nation's 10 most endangered battlefields.
"This is big. This is historic preservation in a very creative way," he
said.
Many consider the battle, fought Aug. 29 to 30, 1862, the most devastating
rout of the war.
With Union Maj. Gen. William "Bull" Nelson away in Lexington, Brig. Gen.
Mahlon Manson, whom Nelson had ordered to stay put, clashed three times
with the advancing rebels.
He was outmaneuvered by Confederate Brig. Gen. Patrick Cleburne near the
tiny Kingston community, between Berea and Richmond. Just across U.S. 421
from the now-closed Kingston Market, Civil War buff Bob Moody can point out
the spot where Cleburne was shot in the mouth.
The two sides clashed again at a farm 2 miles north and at Richmond
Cemetery, but the outcome was the same. The Union forces, mostly raw
recruits from Ohio and Indiana, retreated north in disarray.
A contingent of Confederates captured most of them north of Richmond. More
than 4,300 were taken prisoner; more than 1,000 were killed or wounded. The
Confederate casualties were about half that.
Besides the money the county is spending for the golf course area, the
Battle of Richmond Association is working to raise $1.5 million to develop
a museum, visitors center and Battlefield Park. Its members hope to have
some exhibits ready by Labor Day, with a grand opening by Labor Day 2005.
Much of the battle site is now part of the Blue Grass Army Depot. Civil War
buffs hope to obtain it after the depot's chemical weapons are neutralized.
The depot has agreed to donate the Rogers-Terrill House, which was a field
hospital during the battle, for use as the visitors center.
The museum will be at the Barnett-Gibbs-Herndon estate, where phase 1 of
the battle raged. The Madison County Historical Society bought the house
and 62 acres in 2001.
When a new Interstate 75 interchange is built at Duncannon Lane, tourists
will have easy access to the area.
They could be numerous. Lighthizer notes that more than 2 million people
visit Gettysburg annually and 500,000 go to Antietam, though neither is
easy to get to.
In addition to the golf course, the land also includes a sewage treatment
plant.
Because the sewer plant needs $150,000 to $200,000 in upgrades, the county
is negotiating a $1.275 million purchase price with the bank. It plans to
sell $1.5 million in bonds to pay for the land.
The effort is a rare example of elected officials, business people and
private citizens working together, Lighthizer and others said, noting
contributions from the bank, the county and the state. Under former Gov.
Paul Patton, the project received a $500,000 federal grant in October 2002.
"I'm just delighted for them," Lighthizer said. "They're not only
preserving history, but they're enhancing tourism, too."
Reach Peter Mathews in the Richmond bureau at (859) 626-5878 or
pmathews@herald-leader.com.
Battle of Richmond site returning to government hands
PURCHASE IS KEY STEP TO CREATING CIVIL WAR TOURIST ATTRACTION
By Peter Mathews, CENTRAL KENTUCKY BUREAU
01/06/2003
Lexington Herald-Leader
RICHMOND - More than 140 years after Gen. Kirby Smith's Confederates
wrested the land from an inexperienced Union force, part of the Battle of
Richmond site is in government hands again.
Yesterday, National City Bank executives bid $1.4 million for a 206.6-acre
parcel on behalf of Madison County. The bank held a $2.6 million lien on
the property from developer Jerry C. Fritz.
The purchase is a key step in an effort by the Battle of Richmond
Association and Madison County to create a tourist attraction that could
generate $8 million or more a year, with walking trails and exhibits at the
historic buildings in the area. The parcel includes Battlefield Golf and
Country Club, which will now be open to the public.
"I'm elated," said Judge-Executive Kent Clark. "Five, 10, 20 years from
now, this will be one of the five or six things the county did" that people
will remember.
"It's something everybody's proud of," he said.
It is the first time that preservationists have reclaimed a major battle
site after development, said James Lighthizer, president of the Civil War
Preservation Trust. The non-profit national group lists the Richmond site
as one of the nation's 10 most endangered battlefields.
"This is big. This is historic preservation in a very creative way," he
said.
Many consider the battle, fought Aug. 29 to 30, 1862, the most devastating
rout of the war.
With Union Maj. Gen. William "Bull" Nelson away in Lexington, Brig. Gen.
Mahlon Manson, whom Nelson had ordered to stay put, clashed three times
with the advancing rebels.
He was outmaneuvered by Confederate Brig. Gen. Patrick Cleburne near the
tiny Kingston community, between Berea and Richmond. Just across U.S. 421
from the now-closed Kingston Market, Civil War buff Bob Moody can point out
the spot where Cleburne was shot in the mouth.
The two sides clashed again at a farm 2 miles north and at Richmond
Cemetery, but the outcome was the same. The Union forces, mostly raw
recruits from Ohio and Indiana, retreated north in disarray.
A contingent of Confederates captured most of them north of Richmond. More
than 4,300 were taken prisoner; more than 1,000 were killed or wounded. The
Confederate casualties were about half that.
Besides the money the county is spending for the golf course area, the
Battle of Richmond Association is working to raise $1.5 million to develop
a museum, visitors center and Battlefield Park. Its members hope to have
some exhibits ready by Labor Day, with a grand opening by Labor Day 2005.
Much of the battle site is now part of the Blue Grass Army Depot. Civil War
buffs hope to obtain it after the depot's chemical weapons are neutralized.
The depot has agreed to donate the Rogers-Terrill House, which was a field
hospital during the battle, for use as the visitors center.
The museum will be at the Barnett-Gibbs-Herndon estate, where phase 1 of
the battle raged. The Madison County Historical Society bought the house
and 62 acres in 2001.
When a new Interstate 75 interchange is built at Duncannon Lane, tourists
will have easy access to the area.
They could be numerous. Lighthizer notes that more than 2 million people
visit Gettysburg annually and 500,000 go to Antietam, though neither is
easy to get to.
In addition to the golf course, the land also includes a sewage treatment
plant.
Because the sewer plant needs $150,000 to $200,000 in upgrades, the county
is negotiating a $1.275 million purchase price with the bank. It plans to
sell $1.5 million in bonds to pay for the land.
The effort is a rare example of elected officials, business people and
private citizens working together, Lighthizer and others said, noting
contributions from the bank, the county and the state. Under former Gov.
Paul Patton, the project received a $500,000 federal grant in October 2002.
"I'm just delighted for them," Lighthizer said. "They're not only
preserving history, but they're enhancing tourism, too."
Reach Peter Mathews in the Richmond bureau at (859) 626-5878 or
pmathews@herald-leader.com.
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