Courthouse National
Military Park was established as our nation’s first National Military Park, and
today hundreds of thousands of visitors enjoy history and nature each year
including an annual reenactment each March. Guilford Courthouse
National Military Park Expansion ~ 10 acres, Guilford County
Albert and Helen Lochra. Donation of Land.
Kotis Holdings, LLC and Edward & Miriam Hood. Bargain Sale of Lands.
Sue Andrews, Michael (Mike) & Karen Neiman, Charles (Harry) & Alene
Wakefield, Masterworks Environmental
Planning, Inc., Shirley Henley, and David
Gilbert & Margaret Rowlett.
Sale of Lands.
On
March 15, 1781, General Nathaniel Greene and his army valiantly fought for our
country’s freedom in the woods and meadows around Guilford Courthouse. In 1917,
Guilford
Courthouse National
Military Park was established as our nation’s first National Military Park, and
today hundreds of thousands of visitors enjoy history and nature each year
including an annual reenactment each March.
A long-term partnership between PLC and the National Park Service (NPS) began in 1998 when PLC accepted a donation of a 0.5 acre parcel adjacent to the Park owned by Albert and Helen Lochra. As part of the original battleground, the initial concept was to donate the land directly to the Park. However, due to the various steps required by the federal government, the Park could not accept the gift in a timely manner. Hence, PLC accepted the donation of land and transferred the parcel to the Park in 2001.
In 2002, PLC worked in partnership with Guilford Battleground Company (GBC) and Guilford Courthouse National Military Park to acquire a critical property from Kotis Holdings, LLC. The property was within the 25 acres surrounding the Park designated as a National Landmark Area in 2000. Situated on Battleground Avenue, the acquisition of this four acre site averted commercial development. Additionally, the site includes a mass grave from the battle which has been investigated using ground penetrating radar. PLC transferred this site to the Park in 2002.
Since
the successful transfer of both the Lochra and Kotis Tracts to the NPS, PLC has
facilitated the acquisition of seven additional residential properties
encompassing 6.1 acres by GBC and/or the NPS to expand the Park’s boundaries.
Today, PLC and our partners are working to acquire properties from willing
landowners within the National Landmark Area. To aid the ability of PLC and GBC
to act quickly when willing sellers step forward, Carolina Bank together with
Bank of America, BB&T, CCB, Centura Bank, First Citizens Bank, First National
Bank, Mutual Community Savings Bank, Sterling South Bank & Trust and Wachovia
Bank created a $1.5 Million Line of Credit available to these two organizations
to directly support this project.
Project funding provided by the Lochra Family, Kotis Holdings, LLC, Society of Cincinnatus, Tannenbaum-Sternberger Foundation, Weaver Foundation Parks Fund, Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro, National Park Service, Guilford Battleground Company, and PLC.