"Civil War battle sites at risk" claim preservatists

[Tykit]

"Civil War battle sites at risk" claim preservatists

Saw it scrolling bottom of screen on CNN tonight. If they are referring to detectorists then this is not good for the hobby.

 

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[fossis]

Re: "Civil War battle sites at risk" claim preservatists

Maybe they were talking about 'developers', instead of us.

Fossis..................

 

[kool361]

Re: "Civil War battle sites at risk" claim preservatists

I live in Maryland right across the river from Virginia and have seen first hand the destruction of the sites in VA. A good example of that is the Battle of Balls Bluff. Parts of the battle field are in the development.

 

[Burwick]

Re: "Civil War battle sites at risk" claim preservatists

Yes, I believe they are actually talking about a field in VA. Going to put in a walmart.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Officials-OK-Walmart-near-Va-apf-4279596914.html?x=0&.v=1

 

[Woodland Detectors]

Re: "Civil War battle sites at risk" claim preservatists

The Orange County Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 to grant the special permit to the world's biggest retailer after a majority of more than 100 speakers said they "favored " bringing the Walmart to Locust Grove, within a cannonball's shot from the Wilderness Battlefield.

Historians and Civil War buffs are fearful the Walmart store will draw traffic and more commerce to an area within the historic boundaries of the Wilderness, where generals Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee first met in battle 145 years ago and where 145,000 Union and Confederate soldiers fought and more than 29,000 were killed or injured. One-fourth of the Wilderness is protected
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Yes, we are "fearful"

 

[allen]

Re: "Civil War battle sites at risk" claim preservatists

they wont let us detect on the battlefields,
but they let wal mart build a store on them,
that plain and simply sucks.

 

[dsterry0578]

Re: "Civil War battle sites at risk" claim preservatists

I live in Locust Grove, where the Wal-Mart will soon be built. It also the same Battlefield where Stonewall Jackson had his arm amputated. The property where his arm is buried is also in the Wilderness Battlefield. It's buried at Elwood Manor. This whole area is sacred to ALOT of people in the area. I live right beside an old Civil War railroad & love MD'ing around there. I'm a fellow MD'er & I would like to be able to MD on this property, but most likely, the Park Service will have Wal-Mart turn over any Civil War artifacts that are found during the construction.

 

[dneyedli@res1.mts.net]

Re: "Civil War battle sites at risk" claim preservatists

I'm a fellow MD'er & I would like to be able to MD on this property, but most likely, the Park Service will have Wal-Mart turn over any Civil War artifacts that are found during the construction.

Yeah, I'm sure Wal-Mart will carefully look for artifacts and turn them in.
What will happen is that the machinery will dig it up and haul it all away, gone forever.
This is important that someone in the area obtain permission to work with the construction crew. Don't ask some pencil pusher, go straight to the workers. Tell them you will wear a safety vest, steel toes and a hardhat. Tell them that you will work well away from the equipment and that you must be here to save history. Be persistent and remember.... The survival of those important artifacts is up to you.
Too much has been lost to development already.
If no one can get permission, then at least find out where they will haul the soil to and wiggle your way into that area.
We are the last hope for saving important historical objects.
Dave.

 

[robobob]

Re: "Civil War battle sites at risk" claim preservatists

OK folks, tell you what I would do...follow the dump trucks and see where they are taking the soil/spoil, get your detector out and search there.Get permission and dig away, just imagine how much time and fun you could have...hundreds of trucks loads and its all soft digging too.
Happy dings and bleeps out there.

 

[Mluke]

Re: "Civil War battle sites at risk" claim preservatists

Best Case Scenario given the situation....
What will probably or should happen I would think.....
1) Walmart will have to hire a cultural resource management consultant/firm(Archaeologists) to comply with state and federal historic preservation guidelines
2) the crm firm will do a phase 1 survey to locate site that will be in the area of impact (e.g. the building and parking lot) to locate sites that are potentially eligible for registration on the National Register of Historic Places (a site, depending on state regulations, is two positive shovel test in a row containing more than two artifacts in each. Usually 50 cm wide 80 cm deep 20 meters apart on a grid. Hopefully they will incorporate metal detection in their survey as it is essential for surveying for civil war sites. (They will not only be looking for civil war sites but also other historic and prehistoric cites that may be located in the project area)
3) If potentially eligible sites are found then phase 2 test units will be excavated to determine eligibility of the sites located in phase 1.
4) If there are sites deemed eligible then they will have to mitigate the effects of the project.
Mitigation can either be building around the site (this is usually never the case) or most likely "data recovery" (excavating the cite)
The artifacts recovered will then go to the CRM firm's lab for cataloging and preservation and then most likely sent to where ever the state collections are kept.

Anytime there is Federal or State money/permits involved in large commercial construction projects like a walmart, power plants, etc. companies must adhere to federal guidelines laid out in the National Historic Preservation Act, etc.

If they get a good CRM firm the artifacts will not be hauled out and dumped in a field.

At least this case is highly publicized so they are under a microscope and it will be harder for them to cut corners.
As kool361 noted these new neighborhood developments that have popped on every corner are destroying sites left and right. An excellent example of this is the Georgia port city Sunberry founded in 1758. It dried up in the years following the war of 1812 and eventually abandoned. Today all that remains is a war of 1812 fortification located on a small plot of state land. The entire town was built over by a neighborhood development with no substantial recovery of data or artifacts.