NATIONAL PARK SERVICE • U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Foundation Document Overview Kings Mountain National Military Park South Carolina
Contact Information For more information about the Kings Mountain National Military Park Foundation Document, contact: [email protected] or (864) 936-7921 or write to: Superintendent, Kings Mountain National Military Park, 2625 Park Road, Blacksburg, SC 29702 Purpose Significance
Significance statements express why Kings Mountain National Military Park resources and values are important enough to merit national park unit designation. Statements of significance describe why an area is important within a global, national, regional, and systemwide context. These statements are linked to the purpose of the park unit, and are supported by data, research, and consensus. Significance statements describe the distinctive nature of the park and inform management decisions, focusing efforts on preserving and protecting the most important resources and values of the park unit.
1. The park preserves the entire battlefield site in a natural setting evocative of the Carolina frontier of 1780 and commemorates one of the most important Patriot victories of the American Revolution and the first major Patriot victory of the Southern Campaign. This battle was recognized by both sides as a turning point in the war.
2. The battle at Kings Mountain was one of the few battles of the war where the American long rifle (and associated tactics) was the primary weapon of the Patriot troops, and this fact was instrumental in the outcome of the battle.
3. The Colonel William Chronicle Marker is the second oldest battlefield monument (1815) in the United States. (Completed on July 4, 1799, the Revolutionary Monument on the Common Kings Mountain National Military or Battle Green in Lexington, Massachusetts, is the nation’s ark is commemorates the relatively P oldest Revolutionary War memorial and is the gravesite of those brief but decisive all militia Battle of colonists slain in the Battle of Lexington.) Kings Mountain, the first major Patriot victory of the Southern Campaign 4. The park contains some of the best preserved remnants of Colonial-era roads and trails that are associated with the route of the American Revolution on traveled by the troops in the Battle of Kings Mountain campaign, October 7, 1780, in South Carolina. which are Department of the Interior-certified segments, and it marks the southern terminus of the Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail.
5. The park contains mixed hardwood forest resembling the upper piedmont during the 18th century. Kings Mountain National Military Park preserves several species of concern such as the Georgia aster and the northern bobwhite. The size of the total area (15,000 acres) preserved in a continuous band of national and state parks, including Kings Mountain State Park in South Carolina and Crowders Mountain State Park in North Carolina, is important in preserving critical ecosystems. Fundamental Resources and Values Interpretive Themes
Fundamental resources and values are those features, systems, Interpretive themes are often described as the key stories or processes, experiences, stories, scenes, sounds, smells, or other concepts that visitors should understand after visiting a park—they attributes determined to merit primary consideration during define the most important ideas or concepts communicated to planning and management processes because they are essential to visitors about a park unit. Themes are derived from—and should achieving the purpose of the park and maintaining its significance. reflect—park purpose, significance, resources, and values. The set of interpretive themes is complete when it provides the structure • The Battlefield Site Including Routes To and From It necessary for park staff to develop opportunities for visitors to explore and relate to all of the park significances and fundamental • Weapons and Tactics resources and values. • Personalities and Motivations • The battle at Kings Mountain was one of the few battles of the Revolutionary War where the American long rifle (and the • Visitor Experience associated tactics) was the primary weapon of the Patriot troops, and its use was instrumental in the outcome of the battle. • Commemoration of the Battle • The battle at Kings Mountain was one of the only major battles of Kings Mountain National Military Park contains other resources the American Revolution fought exclusively between Patriot and and values that may not be fundamental to the purpose and Loyalist militias. significance of the park, but are important to consider in management and planning decisions. These are referred to as other • Kings Mountain is the only unit of the national park system that important resources and values. commemorates a Revolutionary War battle for which the entire battlefield is preserved and protected within the unit. • Henry Howser House • The park contains a National Register of Historic Places listed building (the 1803 Howser House) that is an extremely rare • Tangible Resources and Infrastructure example of this type of vernacular architecture in the region. • The park is a unit of the national park system that preserves significant cultural resources associated with the American experience including several historical monuments. (There was an early recognition that preserving this place and the story was very important.) Kings Mountain is one of few Revolutionary War battlefields where the British commander of the forces on the field is buried on the field. • The park contains some of the best preserved remnants of Colonial period roads and trails that are associated with the route marched by the troops in the Battle of Kings Mountain campaign and that are part of the Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail. • The gathering of 75,000–80,000 people at Kings Mountain in 1930 to hear President Herbert Hoover on the occasion of the sesquicentennial celebration of the battle represents one of the largest crowds ever to hear a president speak at such a remote and inaccessible site with extremely limited facilities for food, water, and sanitation. • The park contains mixed hardwood forest resembling the upper piedmont during the 18th century. Kings Mountain National Military Park preserves several species of concern such as the Georgia aster and the northern bobwhite. The size of the total area (15,000 acres) preserved in a continuous band of national and state parks, including Kings Mountain State Park in South Carolina and Crowders Mountain State Park in North Carolina, is important in preserving critical ecosystems. o arlotte k ree
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ak e ail Kings Mountain National Military Park preserves the Kings Mountain National Military Park’s 3,945 acres contain M Tr wders o Cro n entire battlefield and part of the approach route used by the multiple trails for interpretation of the battlefield and that are also to il n ra ia T B R e d e o cl a Park Office Overmountain Victory fighters for the October 7, 1780, battle usedth for recreation. Kings Mountain State Park, which adjoins a a o d n l i e R in h h e o P Tu o c r r m n n n between Patriot and Loyalist militias during uthe Southern Kings RMountain National Military Park on its southeastern b Fr g h S a ee o c c d C a k T il B d 216 h ra o r o m a m o M
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wildlife habitat within its boundaries. Many forest-dependent e n i l e Kings Mountain National Military Park is between Charlotte, species permanently reside or frequently pass through the g d it 5 i R
85 S North Carolina, and Spartanburg, South Carolina, about 18 miles park. Kings Mountain National Military Park along with Kings p a r r o northeast of Gaffney, South Carolina, along Interstate 85. The Mountain State it 4 Park, Crowders Mountain State Park in North Pin w nacle Ro a S d p r in park contains 3,945 acres in York County and Cherokee County, Carolina, and the Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail g s Ro a South Carolina. The park is administratively managed as part provide a network of important resource areas for wildlife and d of the Southern Campaign of the American Revolution group, wildlife viewing. d a o R which, in addition to Kings Mountain National Military Park, o arlotte o Kings Mountain is w Annual recreational visitation to the park has averaged around e includes Cowpens National Battlefield, about 30 miles to the west85 264,363 since the year 2000. The typical peak period ofil visitation at B a 226 r e T near Chesnee, South Carolina; Ninety-Six National Historic Site, t e h lin e Kings Mountain National Militaryle Park is May throughg September. o h id u em R t about 110 miles southwest near Greenwood, South Carolina; itand 2 Ro The months with the lowest visitationa levels are JanuaryCR and R S eek d r ro the Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail, which runs ic d k February. Most of the park’s visitors participate in dayM use N N activities e 29 s rs ranc g n for 270 miles from Abingdon, Virginia, through North Carolina, i Boulders R R such as hiking, walking,K and educational programs.S P RK re Contact Station ek Tennessee, and South Carolina to its o artan urg and
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Kings Mountain. Within this rural o NORTH CAROLINA y v e k r o n a SOUTH CAROLINA l F u a le 216 n l P y setting, the military park contains a m f o o f R n m i o R d ad o D ad e a und
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t und n R o a Mountain National Military Park as a P d d ri o k a ve H le Nature r o a i Camping and l R st r Trail o a k historic battleground. r n day-use area r i c P c T a a r P d r a a k c d o e a Ro o o L ake R i a f R v d O ra ord Kings Mountain National Military e v in s erm o g u un o History o t n F o a g a State Park rk in v lle rm Headquarters Park encompasses the entire field of ille-Sh yvi V elb ic T ek Rock t r re o a o ork 29 ry il battle for the Battle of Kings Mountain Visitor Center ate d t R s se g o ne ou n N ranc uestrian p d Ki at that occurred on October 7, 1780. i m a ranc on and group a a M Battlefield l H camp o National Park C Living History Farm R i i ll st o d D Administration Trail r Because the landscape has changed w ic e e Office c e ll T p i ing r i n v a uestrian p re m a n a o lacks urg il a r d e Parking l g k e n r a little in the past 237 years, it provides r a r n c S
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are significant archeological sites in 0 0.5 1 Mile re orse and Ranger station Restrooms e k hiking trail North the park. Interpretive exhibits display npaved road Campground Phone weapons, clothing, and household Primitive campsite o Kings reek artifacts of rural South Carolina during the Revolutionary War.