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The money that will help restore Ellwood came from grants that will provide help to 110 national parks. |
By RUSTY DENNEN
Efforts to restore a historic house in the Wilderness battlefield got a boost yesterday from the Interior Department.
Ellwood, the only Civil War-era house still standing on the battlefield, will receive $240,500 toward an ongoing rehabilitation project.
And Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park will get $40,000 for a virtual interactive map of the Fredericksburg battlefield. The military park will contribute another $40,000 for that project--money raised from visitor's donations.
"We're really pleased with this and we're hoping that other partners will step forward, knowing that this money will be available," said Russ Smith, superintendent of military park, who was among national park officials present on the Capitol steps for yesterday's announcement by Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne.
"This first round of projects will improve parks nationwide--large and small, urban and rural, natural and historical," Kempthorne said.
The money is part of $24.6 million awarded nationally in Centennial Challenge Projects and Programs grants to 110 national parks. That's been matched by nearly $27 million from private-sector friends groups and other national park supporters.
The initiative aims to match up to $100 million a year in private contributions to help prepare for the 100th anniversary of national parks in 2016.
Ellwood, built in the 1790s by William and Betty Jones, is a house rich in history.
Union and Confederate luminaries occupied the property at times during the Civil War. During the 1863 Battle of Chancellorsville, Confederates used the house as a field hospital. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's left arm is buried in the family cemetery.
In the early 1800s, Ellwood was impressive for its time, with eight rooms, a porch and a basement. The average-size house of the time was 1 rooms.
The Marquis de Lafayette stopped by for breakfast in 1825.
The National Park Service took possession of the property in 1977 when its last owner, Leo Jones, died.
Since then, the National Park Service and Friends of Wilderness Battlefield have been returning the house and grounds to their former glory.
The friends group has raised $291,000 for renovations estimated to cost about $496,000. Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park applied for the federal centennial funds last year.
The first phase of Ellwood's restoration--a hallway and two front rooms off the entrance--was finished earlier this year.
That included the parlor where Gen. Gouverneur Warren received a report of horrendous casualties during the Battle of the Wilderness in 1864. That room will be furnished to reflect Warren's occupancy.
The other room will house exhibits.
The second phase will be the stairway, hall and breezeway and the west room on the first floor. Then the upstairs will be restored.
Another Virginia national park also will receive centennial funds.
Manassas National Battlefield Park is getting $72,000 for interpretive elements at Brawner Farm.
Rusty Dennen: 540/374-5431
Email: rdennen@freelancestar.com
| CENTENNIAL FUNDS MARK ANNIVERSARY
President Bush in 2006 announced the National Park Centennial Initiative to preserve and enhance national parks and prepare them for the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service in 2016. The first round of projects range from improvements at Fredericksburg-area battlefields to saving endangered sea turtles along the Texas coast |
