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Corricks Ford Preservationists Look to Parsons Council for Future Funding
By HEATHER JUDY, Staff Writer
POSTED: October 12, 2007
Members of the Parsons City Council got a bit of a history lesson from Elkins resident and Civil War historian W. Hunter Lesser on Tuesday as he explained how a local group is working to preserve the Corricks Ford site.
Lesser, who is working along with the Corricks Ford Round Table, told council of the importance of the site, and the he and the group would be returning at a later date to seek financial assistance in preserving the battle site.
Lesser is the author of “Battle at Corricks Ford — Confederate Disaster and Loss of a Leader” and “Rebels at the Gate: Lee and McClellan at the Front Line of a Nation Divided.”
Hunter explained that Corricks Ford was the site of the final battle of the first land campaign in the Civil War, a site filled with history, and a site that many history lovers are trying to save.
Corricks Ford, which lies near the city of Parsons, was a piece of battleground that was part of the military retreat of the Confederates from the battles at Rich Mountain and Laurel Hill following the first land action, which occurred at Philippi. The roundtable hopes to protect the “endangered” battleground and transform it into an interpretive park to keep a part of West Virginia history alive.
A few years ago, the Corricks Ford Round Table, an 18-member committee, obtained $100,000 in matching funds, as part of an 80 percent/20 percent agreement to activate the Transportation Enhancement Grant, an additional $297,000, made available through the West Virginia Division of Transportation. The group collected funding from the Civil War Preservation Trust, personal donations from interested individuals, Sens. Walt Helmick, D-15th District, Jon Blair Hunter, D-14th District, and Delegate Stan Shaver, D-46th District, through a state contingency fund to assist tourism, economic development and protecting historical sites, as well as others.
The round table is working to preserve more than 25 acres that will one day serve as the Corricks Ford Memorial Park. The new park is the actual site where the first general on either side was killed — Confederate Brig. Gen. Robert Selden Garnett, who was shot and killed by the Union Army on Saturday, July 13, 1861.
For more than four years the group has been working to see the project come to fruition.
Once everything is in order, the committee will begin the design phase of the project, bringing in engineers and looking at areas to enhance the historic site. The group has mentioned several ideas to capitalize on tourism interests including picnic and camping areas, a visitor center and an interpretive museum, battle re-enactments at the river ford and more — but nothing has been finalized as yet.
Lesser, who has given his heartfelt support for the project, has said, “Corricks Ford is a key element of the historically significant 1861 campaign of Gen. George McClellan — the first campaign of America’s Civil War. The actions here not only propelled McClellan to supreme federal command, but also led directly to West Virginia statehood.
“Acquisition and development of this site — with linkage to Philippi, Laurel Hill, Rich Mountain Battlefield and other sites on the Civil War Discovery Trail — will boost heritage tourism and economic development for our citizens.”
During Tuesday’s meeting, Corricks Ford Round Table members said so far, the city has not put any money into the development. The group said they were not asking for any money at this time but would do so in the near future.
Hunter added that despite the completion of the site, folks have already visited from all over the world to see the property, how it will always attract tourists and how it will continue to bring in money for the city.
Lesser, who is working along with the Corricks Ford Round Table, told council of the importance of the site, and the he and the group would be returning at a later date to seek financial assistance in preserving the battle site.
Lesser is the author of “Battle at Corricks Ford — Confederate Disaster and Loss of a Leader” and “Rebels at the Gate: Lee and McClellan at the Front Line of a Nation Divided.”
Hunter explained that Corricks Ford was the site of the final battle of the first land campaign in the Civil War, a site filled with history, and a site that many history lovers are trying to save.
Corricks Ford, which lies near the city of Parsons, was a piece of battleground that was part of the military retreat of the Confederates from the battles at Rich Mountain and Laurel Hill following the first land action, which occurred at Philippi. The roundtable hopes to protect the “endangered” battleground and transform it into an interpretive park to keep a part of West Virginia history alive.
A few years ago, the Corricks Ford Round Table, an 18-member committee, obtained $100,000 in matching funds, as part of an 80 percent/20 percent agreement to activate the Transportation Enhancement Grant, an additional $297,000, made available through the West Virginia Division of Transportation. The group collected funding from the Civil War Preservation Trust, personal donations from interested individuals, Sens. Walt Helmick, D-15th District, Jon Blair Hunter, D-14th District, and Delegate Stan Shaver, D-46th District, through a state contingency fund to assist tourism, economic development and protecting historical sites, as well as others.
The round table is working to preserve more than 25 acres that will one day serve as the Corricks Ford Memorial Park. The new park is the actual site where the first general on either side was killed — Confederate Brig. Gen. Robert Selden Garnett, who was shot and killed by the Union Army on Saturday, July 13, 1861.
For more than four years the group has been working to see the project come to fruition.
Once everything is in order, the committee will begin the design phase of the project, bringing in engineers and looking at areas to enhance the historic site. The group has mentioned several ideas to capitalize on tourism interests including picnic and camping areas, a visitor center and an interpretive museum, battle re-enactments at the river ford and more — but nothing has been finalized as yet.
Lesser, who has given his heartfelt support for the project, has said, “Corricks Ford is a key element of the historically significant 1861 campaign of Gen. George McClellan — the first campaign of America’s Civil War. The actions here not only propelled McClellan to supreme federal command, but also led directly to West Virginia statehood.
“Acquisition and development of this site — with linkage to Philippi, Laurel Hill, Rich Mountain Battlefield and other sites on the Civil War Discovery Trail — will boost heritage tourism and economic development for our citizens.”
During Tuesday’s meeting, Corricks Ford Round Table members said so far, the city has not put any money into the development. The group said they were not asking for any money at this time but would do so in the near future.
Hunter added that despite the completion of the site, folks have already visited from all over the world to see the property, how it will always attract tourists and how it will continue to bring in money for the city.
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