Preservation News: Over 50 Acres Added to North Carolina Battlefields

Earlier this week, the National Park Service awarded $166,360 in American Battlefield Protection Program grants to preserve both the Averasborough (also spelled Averasboro) and Bentonville battlefields in North Carolina. Coincidentally, both of these battlefields were the sites of some of the last actions of the war in the Tar Heel State as Major General William T. Sherman’s army group stormed north through the Carolinas.

In partnership with the American Battlefield Trust, the nation’s premier battlefield preservation organization, three separate tracts of land were given grants. Two were awarded for the Averasborough battlefield: 30.18 Ellis Tract at $75,500 and the 18.6 Ray Tract at $47,449. The final grant was for the Bentonville battlefield’s Lynch Tract of 2.8 acres at $43,411.

According to Benny Pearce at the Averasboro Battlefield Commission, Inc., the grant funding will be used to purchase those tracts of land. The American Battlefield Protection Program requires matching funds, which were raised by the American Battlefield Trust.