The Battlefield Gains National Status
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n 1910 the company started an effort to have the battlefield declared a national preserve. On March 2, 1917 legislation creating the Guilford Courthouse National Military Park was enacted making it the first battlefield of the American Revolution preserved by the Federal Government. With the passage of the act the Company deeded its land holdings, totaling 125 acres, to the United States and went out of existence.
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rom 1917 to 1933 the park was under the administration of the United States War Department. Battlefield commissioners, appointed by the Secretary of War, handled the day to day operations of the park, the planting of decorative shrubbery and trees, and the mowing of well-kept lawns. The War Department commissioners also continued the tradition of erecting and dedicating monuments on the battlefield.
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n 1933, by an act of Congress, all battlefields under the care of the War Department, including Guilford Courthouse National Military Park, were transferred to the U.S. Department of the Interior to be administered by the National Park Service. As a result many changes were made that began to make the area resemble the open woodland in which the American and British forces fought.
GBC History
- Judge David Schenck's Vision
- Guilford Battle Ground Company Incorporates - 1887
- Monuments and Land Development
- A Shrine for Patriots
- Hundreds Come for Celebrations
- The Battlefield Gains National Status
- Rallying Citizens to Overcome Threats
- Tannenbaum Historic Park
- Greene's Campaign: Shillings for the General
- Land Acquisition Revolving Fund
- National Historic Landmark