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Re: Monocacy Visitors Center
New facilities are good for business.
Visitors surge to Monocacy Battlefield
Park rangers credit hands-on displays for increase in popularity
By Pamela Rigaux
Frederick News-Post [Frederick, Md.]
December 19, 2007
Since the new Monocacy National Battlefield Visitor's Center opened six months ago, the number of visitors has nearly doubled, park rangers said this week. They credit the popularity to the interactive displays.
"We usually get 16,000 to 18,000 guests a year; this year we're expecting 30,000 to 35,000," said park superintendent Susan Trail. "This is the first time we've really told the story of the Battle of Monocacy -- the other visitor's center had no room."
Before, visitors reported to a display on the ground floor of historic Gambrill Mill near Bush Creek. That flooded often and was not easy to see, Trail said. The new $4 million center is in a barn perched on the northernmost edge of the battlefield, just off Urbana Pike, at 4801 Urbana Pike.
A tower provides a view of the handful of farms on which the battle was waged July 9, 1864.
Just how the Confederate troops tactically defeated Union soldiers is shown on a fiberoptic map near the tower.
Dots light up to illustrate troop movements and gunfire. Watching the flow of red dots blinking as Confederates advance on the Union lines is helpful to visitors who want a better understanding of how it was done, said Brett Spaulding, the park ranger behind the display.
Yellow flashing lights means a barn is ablaze as skirmishes flare up. Within minutes, the Battle of the Monocacy is in full swing.
"We did a lot of research using journals, diaries, and regimental history to make this accurate," Spaulding said.
The 3,500-square-foot exhibition space at the visitor's center includes a Civil War room for children to try on period uniforms.
"This is so popular, we're thinking about having adult uniforms," Trail said, noting everyone likes role-playing.
Families may also piece together a historically accurate newspaper, then run it through a printing press.
The visitor's center bookstore has more books, pens, pencils, magnets, T-shirts, and cups, than the old one, park ranger Barbara Justice said.
"It's three times bigger," she said.
"Fighting for Time," a memoir by Glenn Worthington is a favorite.
"It is the first full length account of the battle, and it is told by someone who witnessed it from the cellar of his home when he was 6 years old," Justice said. "He did his research. He looked at the records. He included his personal stories. That just made it come alive."
Worthington was the only civilian casualty of the war, she said. The injury occurred after the battle, when soldiers were burning wreckage.
He wanted a bayonet, so he went out to a bonfire to get one, she said. A cartridge exploded as he attempted to grab his prize. He recovered with no permanent damage to his eyes.
As an adult, he urged the U.S. Congress to establish the battlefield as a national park, which it did in 1934, due to Worthington's diligence, Justice said. The park opened to the public in 1991.
Visitors can get an idea of how the 6-year-old felt as he watched the battle by viewing an exhibit depicting the basement of the Worthington House. When guests approach, a motion-sensitive narration turns on. Glass shatters as a young child's voice describes the scene.
The sound effects can be startling.
"We had secret service and capitol police here when U.S. Rep. Roy Blunt was visiting," Trail recalled. "The sound effects really had the police jumping. They weren't expecting it."
Eric
New facilities are good for business.
Visitors surge to Monocacy Battlefield
Park rangers credit hands-on displays for increase in popularity
By Pamela Rigaux
Frederick News-Post [Frederick, Md.]
December 19, 2007
Since the new Monocacy National Battlefield Visitor's Center opened six months ago, the number of visitors has nearly doubled, park rangers said this week. They credit the popularity to the interactive displays.
"We usually get 16,000 to 18,000 guests a year; this year we're expecting 30,000 to 35,000," said park superintendent Susan Trail. "This is the first time we've really told the story of the Battle of Monocacy -- the other visitor's center had no room."
Before, visitors reported to a display on the ground floor of historic Gambrill Mill near Bush Creek. That flooded often and was not easy to see, Trail said. The new $4 million center is in a barn perched on the northernmost edge of the battlefield, just off Urbana Pike, at 4801 Urbana Pike.
A tower provides a view of the handful of farms on which the battle was waged July 9, 1864.
Just how the Confederate troops tactically defeated Union soldiers is shown on a fiberoptic map near the tower.
Dots light up to illustrate troop movements and gunfire. Watching the flow of red dots blinking as Confederates advance on the Union lines is helpful to visitors who want a better understanding of how it was done, said Brett Spaulding, the park ranger behind the display.
Yellow flashing lights means a barn is ablaze as skirmishes flare up. Within minutes, the Battle of the Monocacy is in full swing.
"We did a lot of research using journals, diaries, and regimental history to make this accurate," Spaulding said.
The 3,500-square-foot exhibition space at the visitor's center includes a Civil War room for children to try on period uniforms.
"This is so popular, we're thinking about having adult uniforms," Trail said, noting everyone likes role-playing.
Families may also piece together a historically accurate newspaper, then run it through a printing press.
The visitor's center bookstore has more books, pens, pencils, magnets, T-shirts, and cups, than the old one, park ranger Barbara Justice said.
"It's three times bigger," she said.
"Fighting for Time," a memoir by Glenn Worthington is a favorite.
"It is the first full length account of the battle, and it is told by someone who witnessed it from the cellar of his home when he was 6 years old," Justice said. "He did his research. He looked at the records. He included his personal stories. That just made it come alive."
Worthington was the only civilian casualty of the war, she said. The injury occurred after the battle, when soldiers were burning wreckage.
He wanted a bayonet, so he went out to a bonfire to get one, she said. A cartridge exploded as he attempted to grab his prize. He recovered with no permanent damage to his eyes.
As an adult, he urged the U.S. Congress to establish the battlefield as a national park, which it did in 1934, due to Worthington's diligence, Justice said. The park opened to the public in 1991.
Visitors can get an idea of how the 6-year-old felt as he watched the battle by viewing an exhibit depicting the basement of the Worthington House. When guests approach, a motion-sensitive narration turns on. Glass shatters as a young child's voice describes the scene.
The sound effects can be startling.
"We had secret service and capitol police here when U.S. Rep. Roy Blunt was visiting," Trail recalled. "The sound effects really had the police jumping. They weren't expecting it."
Eric
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