Valley Forge National Historical Park
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| Valley Forge National Historical Park | |
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| Location | Montgomery County and Chester County, Pennsylvania, USA |
| Nearest city | King of Prussia, Pennsylvania |
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| Area | 3,466 acres (14.03 km²) |
| Established | State Park: 1893 National Historical Park: July 4, 1976 |
| Visitors | 1,293,001 (in 2005) |
| Governing body | National Park Service |
Valley Forge National Historical Park is the site where the Continental Army spent the winter of 1777–1778 near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, during the American Revolutionary War. The National Historical Park preserves the site and interprets the history of the Valley Forge encampment. Originally Valley Forge State Park, it became a national park in 1976. The Park contains historical buildings, recreated encampment structures, memorials, museums, and recreation facilities.
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[edit] Historical encampment
From December 1777 to June 1778, the main body of the Continental Army was encamped in Valley Forge. The site was chosen to keep tabs on the British forces in Philadelphia 18 miles away. This was a time of great suffering for the army, but it was also a time of retraining and rejuvenation. The shared hardship and Baron Friedrich von Steuben's professional military training program are considered key to the subsequent success of the army and revolution.
[edit] Park history
Established in 1893, Valley Forge was Pennsylvania’s first state park. In 1893 the independent Valley Forge Park Commission was created by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania "to preserve, improve, and maintain as a public park the site on which General George Washington's army encamped at Valley Forge." [1] In 1923 the Commission was brought under the Department of Forests and Waters and in 1971 moved under the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. [1]
The park served as the location of the National Scout Jamboree in 1950, 1957, and 1964.
In 1976, the bicentennial year, Pennsylvania gave the park as a gift to the nation. On the 4th of July, 1976, the park was transferred to the National Park System as Valley Forge National Historical Park.[2]
[edit] Modern park
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Valley Forge NHP now encompasses 3,500 acres and is visited by over 1.2 million people each year. They can visit restored historic structures, reconstructed structures such as the iconic log huts, monuments erected by the states from which the Continental soliders came, and visitor facilities. A museum in the Welcome Center provides a concise introduction to the Amercan Revolution and the Valley Forge encampment, featuring original artifacts. Programs, tours, and activities are available year 'round. The park also provides 26 miles of hiking and biking trails, which are connected to a robust regional trails system. Wildlife watching, fishing, and boating on the Schuylkill River also are popular.
[edit] Welcome Center
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The modern park features a newly renovated Welcome Center, which has a major museum exhibit with docent-led programs, and a museum store. A short film is shown in the theater next door.
[edit] Headquarters buildings
A key attraction of the park is the restored colonial home, used by George Washington as his headquarters during the encampment. A renovation program of the headquarters area begun by the park in July 2007 includes the renovation of the old Valley Forge train station into an information center and museum, and the relocation of the current eyesore parking lot. Quarters of other Continental Army generals are also in the park, including those of Huntington, Varnum, Lord Stirling, Lafayette, and Knox.
[edit] Reconstructed works and buildings
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Throughout the park there are reconstructed log cabins of the type thought to be used during the encampment, including a larger log cabin hospital. Earthworks, for the never needed defense of the encampment, are visible, including four redoubts, the ditch for the Inner Line Defenses, and a reconstructed abbatis. The original redoubts and several redans on Route 23, Outer Line Drive, and Inner Line Drive were covered with sod to preserve them, but they are currently in need of further restoration. The original forges, located on Valley Creek, were burned by the British three months prior to Washington's occupation of the Park area. However, neither the Upper Forge site nor the Lower Forge site have been reconstructed. There are also several historical buildings that have not been made open to the public because of reasons such as their current state of disrepair. These include: Lord Stirling's Quarters, Knox's Quarters, and the Von Steuben Memorial. Other historical buildings include the P.C. Knox Estate and Potts' Barn.
[edit] Washington Memorial Chapel
The Washington Memorial Chapel and National Patriots Bell Tower carillon sit atop a hill at the center of the present park. The Chapel is the legacy of Rev. Dr. W. Herbert Burk. Inspired by Burk's 1903 sermon on Washington's birthday, the Chapel was built as a tribute to Washington. Burk was also instrumental in the development of the park itself, including obtaining Washington's campaign tent and banner, now on display in the Welcome Center.[3] The Chapel and attached Bell Tower are not technically part of the park, but serve the spiritual needs of the park and the community that surround it. The Bell Tower houses the DAR Patriot Rolls, listing those that served in the Revolutionary War, and the Chapel grounds host the World of Scouting Museum.[4]
[edit] Memorial markers
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Sitting atop a hill, the National Memorial Arch dominates the southern portion of the park. It is dedicated "to the officers and private soldiers of the Continental Army December 19, 1777 June 19, 1778." The Arch was erected in 1910 by an act of the 61st Congress and is inscribed with George Washington's tribute to the perseverance and endurance of his army:
| Naked and Starving as they are We cannot enough admire |
Visitors leaving the Welcome Center proceed along Outer Line Drive toward the Arch. The Drive is lined with large (~2 m high) memorial stones for each of the brigades, or "lines," that encamped there. Crossing Gulph Road at the Arch, the Drive proceeds through the Pennsylvania Columns and past the hilltop statue of Anthony Wayne on horse. More brigade stones line Port Kennedy Road.
[edit] Visitor facilities
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[edit] Valley Forge Train Stations
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Near Washington's Headquarters is the Valley Forge Train Station. The station was completed in 1911 by the Reading Railroad and was the point of entry to the park for travelers who came by rail through the 1950s from Philadelphia, 23.7 miles (38.1 km) distant.[5] The station is currently being restored and will be used as a museum and information center that offers visitors a better understanding of Washington's Headquarters and the village of Valley Forge.[6] Constructed of the same type stone as Washington's Headquarters, the building was erected on a large man-made embankment overlooking the headquarters site.
Near the Welcome Center is another station at Port Kennedy, on the same line. Both platforms and parking areas are in a state of disrepair. [7]Should the long-planned Schuylkill Valley Metro project come to fruition, this station could again connect the park to center city Philadelphia, Pottstown, and Reading with public transportation.
[edit] Mount Joy Observation Tower
Atop Mount Joy, the highest elevation in the main park area, stood a steel observation tower. After a long climb up the steps, visitors were rewarded with a panoramic view of the Schuylkill and Great Valleys. The tower was closed in the 1980s due to deterioration, liability concerns, and the surrounding trees outgrowing the platform. The tower has since been removed. It was purchased by developer Don Neilson and moved to Potter county PA [citation needed.] The area where it stood is now only accessible by foot trail, the roads have been removed and the area is being given back to the woods.
[edit] Trails
There are 26 miles of hiking and biking trails within the park, such as the Valley Creek Trail and the River Trail. Portions of regional trails run through the park, including the Horse Shoe Trail and the Schuylkill River Trail. Details trail maps can be found at kiosks at trail heads, on the park website (www.nps.gov/vafo) and at the Welcome Center.
[edit] Modern problems
As a park in an increasingly urbanized area, Valley Forge faces problems including traffic, urban sprawl, and an overpopulation of white tail deer.
Port Kennedy Road (PA Route 23), a heavily-traveled two lane commuter road, passes through the park. Efforts to divert the traffic have thus far been unsuccessful, owing to existing traffic volume on alternate routes. Other alternatives include putting the road into a tunnel.
In 2001, a privately-held 62-acre tract of land within the authorized park boundaries was offered for sale. When the Park Service was unable to purchase it, it was sold to Toll Brothers, a real estate development company, for $2.5 million. It took a grass roots campaign to get the Federal Government to purchase the land from developer two years later, for $7.5 million.[8] In 2007, another developer - the American Revolution Center - purchased 78 acres of land within the park boundary with plans to construct a conference center, hotel, retail, campground and museum on the site.[1] The National Parks Conservation Association and local citizens have sued the township over the zoning change that enabled this proposal.
An overpopulation of white tail deer has resulted in "changes in the species composition, abundance, and distribution of native plant communities and associated wildlife" in the park. In 2006 the National Park Service announced its intention to develop an approach to deer management that would "support long-term protection, preservation, and restoration of native vegetation and other natural resources within the park."[9] Hunting is expressly prohibited by the legislation that created the park, and action by Congress would be required before it could be sanctioned.[10]
The park also includes the site of the Ehret Magnesia Company, a former manufacturer of asbestos-insulated pipes. Pre-existing dolostone quarries were subsequently backfilled with asbestos-containing slurry waste materials. Those areas of the park are closed to visitors and an effort is underway at permanent remediation.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Valley Forge National Historical Park official site
- Valley Forge train station
- Valley Forge Muster Roll website
[edit] References
- ^ a b Records of the VALLEY FORGE PARK COMMISSION. Retrieved on 2006-10-27.
- ^ Valley Forge National Historical Park - Washington Memorial Chapel (U.S. National Park Service)
- ^ CHAPTER FIVE: The Churches at Valley Forge. Valley Forge National Historic Park. Retrieved on 2006-10-30.
- ^ World of Scouting Museum
- ^ Official Guide of the Railways. New York: National Railway Publication Co., February, 1956.
- ^ Petersen, Nancy. "A new view of Valley Forge", The Philadelphia Inquirer, January 3, 2007.
- ^ Train Station
- ^ Toll Bros: History, Land. . . and Battles. Retrieved on 2006-10-27.
- ^ White-tailed Deer Management Plan/Environmental Impact Statement, Valley Forge National Historical Park, King of Prussia, PA. Retrieved on 2006-11-01.
- ^ Valley Forge park sets deer hearing. Retrieved on 2006-10-27.
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