guco_front.ai Crop Marks are Black National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Guilford Courthouse National Military Park Greensboro, North Carolina Guilford Courthouse National Military Park Cultural Landscape Report Cultural Resources · Southeast Region Guilford Courthouse National Military Park Cultural Landscape Report Written by John Hiatt Under the direction of National Park Service Southeast Regional Office Cultural Resources Division 2003 The cultural landscape report presented here exists in two formats. A printed version is available for study at the park, the Southeastern Regional Office of the National Park Service, and at a variety of other repositories. For more widespread access, this cultural landscape report also exists in a web-based format through ParkNet, the website of the National Park Service. Please visit www.nps.gov for more information. Cultural Resources Southeast Region National Park Service 100 Alabama St. SW Atlanta, GA 30303 (404) 562-3117 2003 Cultural Landscape Report Guilford Courthouse National Military Park Greensboro, North Carolina Guilford Courthouse National Military Park Cultural Landscape Report iv Cultural Landscape Report: Guilford Courthouse National Military Park Contents Figures vii Foreword ix Acknowledgments xi Introduction Management Summary 1 Historical Summary 2 Site Boundaries 3 Scope of Work and Methodology 3 Summary of Findings 4 Site History The Pre-Colonial Setting 7 The Genesis and Settlement of North Carolina, 1663-1770 10 Guilford, 1770-1777 12 The Battlefield Scene, 1781 14 From Guilford Courthouse to Martinville,1779-1857 22 Preserving and Commemorating Guilford Courthouse Battlefield, 1857-1917 31 Federal Custodianship of the Guilford Battlefield 43 The Era of the National Park Service 48 Existing Conditions Topographical Overview 65 Circulation 65 Visitor Center and Other Park Facilities 72 General Vegetation Patterns 73 Greene Monument-Amphitheater Component Landscape 76 Newly Acquired Parcels 77 Analysis of Integrity Guilford Court House Battlefield: Evaluation of Landscape Integrity 79 The Guilford Battle Ground Company’s Commemorative Layer 83 Character Areas 84 Treatment Recommendations Treatment Recommendations for the Battle-era Landscape 90 General Treatment Recommendations for Commemorative Resources 95 Greene Monument-Amphitheater Landscape 96 Visitor Center Landscape 96 Superintendent’s Residence-Maintenance Complex 97 Newly Acquired Tracts 98 Bibliography 107 Appendix A 111 Appendix B 112 National Park Service v vi Cultural Landscape Report: Guilford Courthouse National Military Park Figures 1 Regional Context for Guilford Courthouse National Military Park. 6 2 Detail of John Collet’s 1770 “A Compleat Map of North Carolina.” 9 3 New county creation in the North Carolina backcountry before the Revolution. 12 4 1781 British plan of the Battle of the Guilford Court House. 16 5 The “Tarleton”map of the Battle of Guilford Court House, 1787. 17 6 Detail of Guilford County from 1808 Price-Strother map. 24 7 Raleigh Taylor’s conjectural plan of Martinville. 25 8 Author’s revised conjectural plan of Martinville. 26 9 Benson Lossing’s view of the battlefield’s eastern sector, 1860. 30 10 Martinville, rendered by artist David Hunter Strother, 1857. 31 11 Reverend Eli Caurthers’ 1856 plan of the battle. 34 12 Judge David Schenck’s 1889 plan of the battle. 35 13 Guilford Battle Ground Park, 1889. 38 14 A train thunders through Guilford Battle Ground Park, circa 1893. 39 15 The Clyde and Leonidas Springhouses, circa 1893. 40 16 Guilford Battle Ground Park, circa 1893. 40 17 Guilford Battle Ground Park, 1892. 41 18 Lake Wilfong, circa 1893. 41 19 Guilford Battle Ground Park, 1903. 42 20 The Nash & Davidson Arches, 1905-1937. 43 21 Guildford Courthouse Land Acquisition Map, 1911 - 1970s. 44 22 Greene Monument, 1924. 45 23 View of Green Monument landscape, circa 1936. 47 24 Guilford Courthouse National Military Park, 1933. 49 25 Administration Building, 1935. 50 26 Superintendent’s Residence, 1935. 50 27 Utility Building and Inflammable Storage Unit, 1935. 50 28 Superintendent’s Residence - Maintenance Complex, 1935. 50 29 General Planting Plan, 1936. 52 30 Superintendent’s Residence Area Planting Plan, 1936. 54 31 General Development Plan, 1938. 55 32 Outdoor Amphitheater Plan, 1938. 56 33 Amphitheater stage and portico, circa 1939. 57 34 The Anderson inholding, circa 1940. 58 35 The Webb property, no date. 58 36 Intersection of Martin’s “Trespass” and New Garden Roads, circa 1949. 58 37 Detail of a 1957 aerial photograph of the park. 59 38 Development Concept Plan, 1973. 61 39 Guilford Courthouse National Military Park: Existing Conditions. 67 40 Old Battleground Road. 65 41 Overflow Parking Lot. 66 42 Intersection of Old Battleground Road and the tour road’s southern route. 66 43 Transition between New Garden Road’s modern and historic courses. 66 44 The New Garden trace intersecting Old Battleground Road . 69 45 New Garden’s restored course. 69 National Park Service vii 46 View of the New Garden trace exiting the woods. 69 47 The convergence of the New Garden trace and the paved tour road. 69 48 The comfort station at Tour Stop 6. 70 49 The former “Holt Avenue” stretch of the tour route. 70 50 The divergence of the New Garden trace and the tour road. 71 51 View of the Bicentennial Greenway. 71 52 The “Martin Trespass” path. 71 53 The park Visitor Center. 72 54 View of Monument Row. 72 55 The Superintendent’s Residence. 72 56 The Utility Building and Inflammable Storage Unit. 73 57 Remnant walkways and garden plot at Superintendent’s Residence. 73 58 Quarters No. 2. 73 59 The revised site of the Third Line, near Tour Stop 6. 74 60 The former Third Line. 75 61 “Schenck’s” field. 75 62 Looking in the direction of the former drive-in theater. 75 63 The gravel path from Tour Stop 8. 76 64 The Greene Monument. 76 65 Grass growing up between the brick joints on the amphitheater’s northern radial walk. 77 66 Guilford Courthouse National Military Park: Historical Base Map. 99 67 Guilford Courthouse National Military Park: Treatment Recommendations A. 101 68 Guilford Courthouse National Military Park: Treatment Recommendations B. 103 69 Guilford Courthouse National Military Park: Treatment Recommendations C. 105 Figure Credits Cover: Sir Henry Clinton Papers, Clements Library, University of Michigan. Figure 1: GUCO Cultural Landscapes Inventory, 1998; Figure 2: Collet, 1770; Figure 3: Corbitt, 1950; Figure 4: Sir Henry Clinton Papers, Clements Library, University of Michigan; Figure 5: Tarleton, 1781; Figure 6: Price, 1808; Figure 7: Hatch, 1970; Figure 8: Plan by author; Figure 9: Lossing, 1860; Figure 10: Harper’s New Monthly Magazine, July 1857; Figure 11: Caruthers, 1856; Figure 12: Schenck, 1889, copied from Hatch, 1971, Plate 8; Figure 13: GUCO Archives; Figures 14-16: Schenck, 1893; Figure 17: GUCO Archives; Figure 18: Schenck, 1893; Figure 19: NPS Plan 316.1023; Figure 20: GUCO Archives; Figure 21: Baker, 1995; Figures 22-23: GUCO Archives; Figure 24: NPS Plan 316.41005.1; Figures 25-28: GUCO Archives; Figure 29: NPS Plan 316.2000.1; Figure 30: NPS Plan 316.2000.3; Figure 31: NPS Plan 316.1009.1; Figure 32: NPS Plan 316.1020; Figure 33: GUCO Archives; Figures 34-37: GUCO Archives; Figure 38: NPS Plan 316.40004; Figure 39: NPS, SERO Cultural Resources; Figures 40-65: Photos by author; Figures 66-69: NPS, SERO Cultural Resources. viii Cultural Landscape Report: Guilford Courthouse National Military Park Foreword We are pleased to make available this cultural landscape report as part of our ongoing effort to provide comprehensive documentation for the historic structures and landscapes of National Park Service units in the Southeast Region. Many individuals and institutions contributed to the successful completion of this project. We would especially like to thank Guilford Courthouse National Military Park Superintendent Charles Cranfield, former Superintendent Bob Vogel, and park staff for their support and contributions to this work. Thanks also to Lucy Lawliss, Lead, NPS Park Cultural Landscapes Program, for her knowledgeable guidance throughout the project. Finally, we would like to recognize the labor and dedication of John Hiatt, author of this report. We hope that the study will be a useful tool for park management and for others interested in the history and significance of the many cultural resources at Guilford Courthouse. Dan Scheidt Chief, Cultural Resources Division Southeast Regional Office National Park Service ix x Cultural Landscape Report: Guilford Courthouse National Military Park Acknowledgments Several persons were instrumental in the conception and preparation of this report and deserve special thanks. I owe a substantial debt of gratitude to Lucy Lawliss, Lead, Parks Cultural Landscape Program, for her invaluable input at every phase of the project. She served not only as a supervisor, but also as a mentor; her sincere encouragements, advocacy, and technical expertise made my task all the more manageable and enjoyable. I am likewise especially grateful to Bob Vogel, former Superintendent Guilford Courthouse National Military Park (now Superintendent, Cape Lookout National Seashore) for his ambitious vision for the battlefield’s rehabilitation and for his enthusiastic support. Supervisory Park Ranger Steve Ware, Park Ranger Don Long, and Park Historian John Durham, all of Guilford Courthouse NMP, warrant recognition, too, for their assistance in gathering essential materials and for their vast knowledge of the battle as well as the