29. Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park, Kentucky

               Welcome back to our blog on the National Park Service!  In this post we are headed to Kentucky to the birthplace of President Lincoln.

Entrance Sign

BACKGROUND:

               In February of 1809, in a small log cabin on the frontier of Kentucky, Abraham Lincoln, arguably the greatest man that has held the office of President of the United States, was born.  Despite his dirt-poor upbringing and virtually no formal education, Lincoln managed to climb the ranks of society, from laborer, to lawyer, to Congressman, and eventually the Presidency.  His perseverance to succeed when his upbringing would have doomed him to a pauper status in other lands enabled him to be a very symbol of the opportunities the United States could give its citizens.  Above all though, it was his single-minded determination as President to preserve the Union which brought the country, battered but intact, through the bloodbath of the Civil War and the final abolition of slavery.

               To honor the great President, a memorial was commissioned to coincide with the centennial of his birth in 1909.  The grand neoclassical shrine was built atop the very spot where the Lincoln cabin stood and encased within it the cabin itself.  The memorial was dedicated by President Taft and opened to the public in 1911.

The birthplace memorial.

THE HISTORICAL PARK:

               Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park is located on two tracts of land in the vicinity of the small town of Hodgenville, Kentucky.

               The main tract of property is the location of Lincoln’s birthplace and the neoclassical memorial.  The memorial stands atop a small hill beside the “Sinking Spring,” a natural spring which gave the property its original name.  A series of fifty-six steps, marking Lincoln’s age at the time of his assassination, lead up to the memorial which encloses a log cabin.  Contrary to the beliefs at the time the memorial was constructed, the cabin within the memorial is not the real Lincoln birthplace.  The error was not discovered until long after the memorial was built and it has since been redubbed the “Symbolic Cabin.”  At the bottom of the hill is the visitor center while across the road is a picnic area.  There are short trails around the property on either side of the road.

               The second tract of land is several miles away from the main site at an area called Knob Creek.  When Lincoln was only two years old, his father Thomas Lincoln was forced off the Sinking Spring property in a land dispute and rented property at nearby Knob Creek while the dispute was settled.  The Lincoln’s continued to live at Knob Creek until Abraham was seven years old, at which point Thomas Lincoln moved the family in search of better opportunities to Indiana.  A replica of the second Lincoln cabin is at the site, as well as a tavern built in the early 20^th century meant to cater to tourists.

The "Symbolic Cabin" within the memorial.

TRAVEL TIPS:

               Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park is roughly an hour’s drive south from Louisville, Kentucky and forty-five minutes north from Mammoth Cave National Park.  The memorial section of the park and the visitor center are open year-round with holiday exceptions from 9am to 5pm.  The Knob Creek area ground are open twenty-four hours a day, while the cabin and tavern are open seasonally.  The visitor center holds several artifacts including the Lincoln family Bible and contains a short film.  The park is handicapped accessible.  Passport stamps can be found at both the primary visitor center and at the Ranger station at Knob Creek.  For those hoping to visit Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park and Mammoth Cave National Park on the same day, please note that the Lincoln Birthplace is in the Eastern Time Zone while Mammoth Cave is in the Central Time Zone.

ADDITIONAL PHOTOS:

The Knob Creek cabin and the Lincoln Tavern.

The pathway leading down to the Sinking Spring.

The Lincoln family Bible, on display at the visitor center.

28. Brices Cross Roads National Battlefield Site, Mississippi

               Hello!  Welcome back to our blog on the National Park Service.  In this post we’ll be making a stop at one of the smallest places in the NPS, a single acre plot commemorating the battle of Brices Cross Roads in Mississippi.

Entrance Sign.  Note that although the sign reads "National Battlefield," it is officially designated "National Battlefield Site."

BACKGROUND:

               By the summer of 1864, the Civil War was going badly for the Confederacy.  After a series of devastating defeats at Gettysburg, Vicksburg, and Chattanooga, the hopes of a southern victory were rapidly diminishing.  To make matters worse, General William T. Sherman had begun his drive south from Chattanooga to retake Atlanta for the Union.  Hoping to stall Sherman’s advance, the infamous Confederate cavalry commander General Nathan Bedford Forrest rode west into Union controlled northern Mississippi to strike Sherman’s supply lines.

               Just north of Tupelo, Mississippi, Forrest encountered a Union force under the command of General Samuel Sturgis sent to stop him.  Forrest attacked the Union troops in an area around a rural intersection known as Brices Cross Roads.  During the battle, the Confederates succeeded in executing a double envelopment, a somewhat rare military maneuver where an army turns both of the enemy’s flanks.  Sturgis was forced to retreat to avoid encirclement but lost most of his army’s supply wagons.  Forrest meanwhile, freshly resupplied courtesy of the captured Union supplies, continued to vex the Union in the area for another month until the Battle of Tupelo.

Brices Cross Roads as it appears today.

THE BATTLEFIELD SITE:

               Brices Cross Roads National Battlefield Site is among the smallest units in the National Park Service.  Although the battlefield is in a largely rural area that has not been altered much since the Civil War, and most of it is currently preserved through the Civil War Trust, a charitable organization whose mission is to preserve battlefields across the country, only a small one-acre plot of land on one corner of the intersection of the historical Brices Cross Roads is owned by the National Park Service.  The site is marked by an NPS sign, a lone monument, and a pair of cannon.  There is a small pull-off for parking next to the site.

The monument at Brices Cross Roads.

TRAVEL TIPS:

               Brices Cross Roads National Battlefield Site is located roughly twenty minutes north of Tupelo, Mississippi.  The site has no official NPS visitor center, however the nearby Mississippi Final Stands Interpretive Center in nearby Baldwyn, Mississippi provides visitor information for Brices Cross Roads and its identical twin NPS site Tupelo National Battlefield.  Passport stamps can be found at the Mississippi Final Stands Interpretive Center and at the NPS Natchez Trace Parkway visitor center in nearby Tupelo.

The Mississippi Final Stands Interpretive Center.

27. Pu’ukohola Heiau National Historic Site, Hawaii

               Hello and welcome back to our blog.  In this post we return to Hawaii to examine a pivotal place in the state’s history that led to the unification of Hawaii, Pu’ukohola Heiau National Historic Site.

Entrance Sign

BACKGROUND: 

               In 1790 the Hawaiian chieftain Kamehameha had conquered several of the Hawaiian Islands in his quest to unite the nation.  However, some islands still resisted.  In order to fulfill a prophecy given to him by his aunt, Kamehameha ordered the construction of a temple to appease the Hawaiian war god on the largest island, Hawaii.  After a year of work, the temple was complete and Kamehameha was rewarded.  Armed with European cannon and firearms, Kamehameha unleashed his forces on the remaining independent islands, subduing them and becoming the first monarch of the united Kingdom of Hawaii.

The Pu'ukohola Heiau.

THE SITE:

               Pu’ukohola Heiau National Historic Site is located on the island of Hawaii, better known as the Big Island, on the northwest coast near the town of Waikoloa.  The site consists of a small area around what is called the Hill of the Whale, on which two Heiau, the Hawaiian word for temple, are built overlooking a small bay.  The larger Heiau is the eponymous Pu’ukohola Heiau, while the second, Mailekini Heiau, is located directly in front of and below Pu’ukohola Heiau.  A third temple, Hale o Kapuni Heiau, lies just off-shore underwater.  When originally constructed, the three Heiau would have been crowned with wooden structures but today only the stone bases remain.  Also on the property is the ruins of the house of John Young, a British sailor marooned on Hawaii who became a military advisor and weapons buyer for Kamehameha.

               The visitor center is a partially open-air structure near the two remaining Heiau housing a gift shop and showing several short films on the history of the site and the life of Kamehameha.  In addition the site is the terminus of the Ala Kahakai National Historic Trail, which runs along the west coast of Hawaii and connects with two other NPS units on the Big Island, Kaloko Honokohau National Historical Park, and Pu’uhonua O Honaunau National Historical Park.

The small bay below Pu'ukohola Heiau taken from the Ala Kahakai National Historic Trail..  A third Heiau at the site lies underwater.

TRAVEL TIPS:

               Pu’ukohola Heiau National Historic Site is open year-round from 8am to 4:45pm.  The site is roughly a little under an hour’s drive from Kailua Kona on Hawaii’s west coast.  Native Hawaiian cultural events are held in the summer while in the winter the aptly named Hill of the Whale is used for whale watching events.  On a clear day the island of Maui can also been seen from the site.  The site is handicapped accessible and passport stamps can be found at the visitor center.

ADDITIONAL PHOTOS:

Mailekini Heiau.  This temple was transformed into a fort by Kamehameha and armed with cannon.

The area at the shoreline below the two Heiau, seen here, was once a royal courtyard.

A second view of Pu'ukohola Heiau.

26. River Raisin National Battlefield Park, Michigan

Hello!  Welcome back to our blog on the NPS.  In our latest post we’ll be visiting a War of 1812 battlefield and making our first stop in the state of Michigan at River Raisin National Battlefield Park.

Entrance Sign and visitor center.

BACKGROUND:

               The War of 1812 started off badly for the United States.  Despite predictions that conquering Canada would be a swift affair, the U.S. had been embarrassed when their first invasion across the Niagara river in New York was repulsed and the British struck back by capturing Detroit in Michigan.  Suddenly the United States was forced to recover lost ground and the western shores of Lake Erie became the main theater of war.  Hoping to gain the element of surprise, American forces marched north through Ohio in winter to retake Detroit.  On January 18^th, 1813 a force of roughly nine hundred U.S. troops fought off a force of Canadian militia and American Indian allies at a small settlement called Frenchtown on the banks of the River Raisin in southeast Michigan.  Several days later on January 22^nd, a much larger force of British regulars, along with additional Canadians and Indian allies returned to assault Frenchtown.  The British were able to flank and rout the professional U.S. 17^th Infantry regiment, inflicting mass casualties.  Kentucky militia continued to hold out along a rail fence, until receiving orders to surrender from the captured American commander.  Most of the American prisoners were marched north while the wounded were left in Frenchtown to be retrieved later.  However, the next day, before British troops returned, their Native Indian allies fell upon the town and massacred the wounded Americans.  Out of the over nine hundred U.S. troops engaged in the two battles at Frenchtown and the ensuing massacre, only thirty-three were able escape unscathed back to American lines.  The defeat badly set back the U.S. counter-offensive to retake Detroit, while the massacre at Frenchtown gave the Americans the rallying cry of, “Remember the Raisin!”

A monument opposite the park grounds commemorating the U.S. soldiers who were killed in the battle and massacre at Frenchtown.

THE BATTLEFIELD PARK:

River Raisin National Battlefield Park was originally a Michigan state historic site until becoming a unit of the National Park Service in 2009.  The park currently preserves a tract of land at the corner of Elm Street and North Dixie Highway along the north bank of the River Raisin.  The majority of the property is open fields where the British force attacked across during the second battle on January 22^nd, 1813.  No original structures from the Frenchtown settlement remain, their locations built over by modern homes along Elm Street, however a rail fence where the Kentucky militia made their last stand was erected on the original spot.  A trail circles the edge of the battlefield.

The reconstructed rail fence where the Kentucky militiamen fought off several attacks by British regulars.  The British would have been advancing from the right of the photo.

TRAVEL TIPS:

               River Raisin National Battlefield Park is located in the present-day town of Monroe, Michigan, which absorbed the Frenchtown settlement, a roughly twenty-minute drive north from Toledo, Ohio.  The park is open from 9am to 5pm year-round with holiday exceptions.  For those interested in a more authentic experience, it is recommended to visit in the winter.  In addition, battle reenactments are conducted around the anniversary of the battle in January.  The visitor center contains a short film and exhibits featuring artifacts from the battle.  The park is handicapped accessible and passport stamps can  be found at the front desk in the visitor center.

ADDITIONAL PHOTOS:

A picnic shelter and historical markers behind the visitor center on the ground where the U.S. 17th Infantry Regiment camped prior to the battle.

Two mannequins in the visitor center displaying the uniforms of U.S. regulars (right) and militia (left).

A second mannequin display depicting the appearance of British soldiers at River Raisin, from left to right, Canadian militia, an artilleryman with a light cannon mounted on a sled for traversing through snow, and a British infantryman.

25. George Washington Birthplace National Monument, Virginia

               Hello, and welcome once again to our blog on the National Park Service.  In this installment we visit the birthplace of the father of our country, George Washington Birthplace National Monument.

Entrance Sign

BACKGROUND:

               In 1664, a man named John Washington settled on a large tract of property he had purchased at the junction of Popes Creek and the Potomac River in the English colony of Virginia.  Over the next two generations his family prospered farming tobacco.  In 1732, on the very same land, his Great-Grandson, George Washington was born.  From this unassuming farm in colonial Virginia, George Washington would have a disproportionate impact on history.  His actions as a young militia officer in 1754 caused the French and Indian War, a conflict which was arguably the first ‘world war.’  This would lead a chain reaction of events which caused Britain’s American colonies to rise up in revolt, once again thrusting Washington into the spotlight as the leader of America’s armies in the War of Independence.  After winning the seemingly impossible victory, Washington was called on once again to lead his country as the first President of the United States, cementing his legacy as the “Father of the Country.”

               As the years passed there were many attempts the memorialize Washington’s birthplace, but it was not until the 1920s when a private organization backed by industrialist John D. Rockefeller succeeded in acquiring the land for preservation efforts.  A replica of the house in which Washington was born was built, and the land was designated as a National Monument in 1930.

The Memorial House at left and the colonial kitchen at right.

THE MONUMENT:

               George Washington Birthplace National Monument consists of a large area of land at the confluence of Popes Creek and the Potomac River in the Tidewater region of Virginia.  The centerpiece of the Monument is the replica of the house in which Washington was born, known as the Memorial House.  When it was constructed in 1930, it was presumed that the Memorial House was standing on the same location of the original structure.  However, subsequent investigations have revealed that information to be incorrect, and the outline the true birthplace home is marked on the ground not far from the Memorial House.  (However, Park Rangers at the Monument informed the authors that further archaeological research has suggested that this site may also be inaccurate.)  Adjacent to the Memorial House is a colonial garden where traditional herbs are grown.  The grounds surrounding the Memorial House are still a working farm, providing visitors with a first-hand perspective of what the Washington farm would have looked and how it operated at the time of Washington’s birth.  A small distance up the road, away from the visitor center and colonial farm, is the Washington family burial plot.

The Washington family burial plot, including the grave of George Washington's Great-Grandfather John Washington.

TRAVEL TIPS:

               George Washington Birthplace National Monument is located roughly an hour and twenty minutes’ drive northeast from Richmond Virginia, and one and a half hours’ drive south from the District of Columbia.  The Monument is open from 9am to 5pm, shortened to 10am to 5pm from January to March, and is open year-round with holiday exceptions.  Ranger led tours of the ground and the Memorial House occur every hour from 10am to 4pm, and the visitor center has a short film.  The Memorial House is not handicapped accessible.   Passport stamps can be found in the visitor center.

ADDITIONAL PHOTOS:

A memorial obelisk at the roundabout at the entrance to the Monument, first erected in 1896.

The outline of the presumed actual birthplace home of George Washington.

The colonial garden adjacent to the Memorial House.

The interior entry hall of the Memorial House.

The grounds of the Monument, including some rebuilt colonial farm buildings.

The confluence of Popes Creek and the Potomac River.  The Maryland shore is on the far side.