Battling for Manassas: The Fifty-Year Preservation Struggle at Manassas National Battlefield Park

Table of Contents

Foreword

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Bibliography

Appendix I

Appendix II

Appendix III

Appendix IV

Appendix V (omitted from on-line edition)

Appendix VI

Appendix VII

Appendix VIII

Manassas Chapter 4

Park Additions

1954 Boundary Legislation

Interpretive activities at the museum could succeed only if the park itself remained a viable entity containing the most historically significant properties. As the Park Service sought protection for more lands through acquisition, it saw the need to define the extent of the battlefield park's boundaries.

Initial discussions concerning Manassas boundary legislation proceeded from early attempts to purchase the Stone House. As Acting Director Tolson and Associate Director Demaray debated the legality of applying Interior Department funds to the Stone House acquisition, the larger concern of defining the ultimate park boundaries emerged. Demaray justified use of 1949 Interior funds for purchasing the Stone House, but he encouraged the idea of getting an act of Congress to identify further land acquisitions and fix the boundaries. Otherwise, an order of the secretary of the interior amending the original park legislation might be necessary for each addition of property. As a result, the Park Service turned to Congress for help in defining the Manassas National Battlefield Park's boundaries. [30]

Limited success in acquiring the lands around the New York monuments added greater urgency to the idea of congressional action. The Park Service used the attention generated from the spread of residential and commercial developments near the monuments and the concurrent increase in property values to urge Interior and the Bureau of the Budget to approve a proposed bill defining the park's boundaries. Further prompting came from Al Gregory, a United Press correspondent noted to have considerable interest in the Civil War, who alerted President Harry S. Truman of the need for more land at Manassas. In response to these circumstances, Interior concurred with H.R. 3297, the second of eventually five bills that defined the Manassas National Battlefield Park's boundaries. [31]

Key aspects of the Manassas boundary extension bills that elicited concern and resulted in revision or clarification included the amount of acreage to be added and the funding mechanism for purchasing the lands. House bills 5911, 3297, and 3041 allowed the addition of up to 2,500 acres while H.R. 5529, which became the final approved legislation, reduced this sum to 1,400 acres. H.R. 5911 and 3297 specified that the secretary of the interior acquire the lands by donation, purchase, or condemnation, but the final bill contained the changed phrasing to procure "in such manner" as considered in the public interest. Congress also sought assurances from the Department of the Interior that the bill would not necessitate a special appropriation of funds. Instead, the Park Service expected to acquire the lands through donations, land exchanges, or purchase using regular land acquisitions funds. The Bureau of the Budget signaled its concurrence with the boundary extension bill in February 1954. Approval of H.R. 5529 came on 17 April 1957. [32]

Public Law 338 set the boundaries for the Manassas National Battlefield Park. While the southern boundary remained fixed along the Henry Hill property, Congress extended the southwestern boundary to include the New York monuments area. The act extended the western and northwestern boundaries from the New York monuments to the Sudley Church property, following State Highway 622. The Sudley Church property remained the northern limits of the park, but the law allowed for up to 250 additional acres adjacent to the north and west boundaries, so long as the total acreage added to the park under P.L. 338 did not exceed 1,400 acres. These proposed boundaries rounded out the park and provided a mechanism for connecting scattered tracts. [33]

With the boundary legislation in hand, the Park Service continued its efforts to acquire the remaining lands around the New York monuments. Using 1954 and 1955 Department of the Interior funds, the Park Service spent $32,000 to purchase properties from Joseph Patterson and Willis Early. John Hottel had originally subdivided and sold these lots to Patterson and Early as housing tracts in 1947. In 1953 Hottel had sold a portion of his property, totaling twenty-three acres and including areas adjacent to each of the three New York monuments, for just under $12,000 to the Park Service. In November 1955 Hottel sold another five acres to the federal government, which centered on the 14th Brooklyn monument site, for $7,000. This five-acre tract commanded the significantly higher price due to its location in a commercially attractive area at the intersection of State Highway 622 and Lee Highway. [34]

The New York monuments remained under state ownership well after the acquisition of the final critical tracts. In March 1953 Secretary of the Interior Douglas McKay expressed interest in having the state of New York transfer the New York monuments to the federal government, noting the Park Service's success in obtaining funding and making substantial progress in purchasing identified lots. But final action waited until May 1957 when the state deeded the three parcels of land containing the monuments. The Park Service accepted these monuments in June 1958. [35]

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