ECW News: Support Grows for Proposed Vicksburg Visitor Center
ECW News told you last month about plans to build a new visitor center for Vicksburg National Military Park. The project is a cooperative venture between the federal government, the State of Mississippi and the Friends of Vicksburg National Military Park and Campaign. This public-private partnership will facilitate a state-of-the-art facility that will accommodate much larger public demand.
In a brief update on that project: three other national organizations have joined the American Battlefield Trust in supporting the Vicksburg legislation, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, National Parks Conservation Association, and the Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks.
The project requires the transfer of two small but important parcels of land—in total, less than 11 acres—to the State of Mississippi to construct the proposed new visitors center at Vicksburg National Military Park.
According to the American Battlefield Trust, Vicksburg National Military Park is the most visited cultural site in the state of Mississippi, welcoming more than 400,000 visitors in 2024. The Vicksburg Campaign was one of the most consequential events of the Civil War, securing Union control of the Mississippi River and cleaving the Confederacy in two. The American Battlefield Trust and Friends of Vicksburg National Military Park and Campaign—both non-profit organizations—have conserved more than 2,100 acres of key battlefield ground in the park.
The existing visitors center was built in the 1960s; it is small and provides limited information about the 1863 Campaign and Siege of Vicksburg. Since then, the park has been expanded to include other battlefields associated with the Vicksburg Campaign, including Champion Hill, Chickasaw Bayou, Port Gibson and Raymond. Unfortunately, the existing visitors center cannot be expanded to accommodate the technology, resources and artifacts necessary to provide visitors with a comprehensive understanding of the Vicksburg Campaign.
This new visitor center is exactly what is needed to tell the full story of the Vicksburg Campaign, not just the siege. It would also be great if the National Park Service could get the opportunity to have visitor contact stations at sites like Champions Hill, Big Black River, etc.
This is great news. I’ve only been there twice, but it seems like there is so much untapped potential to interpret the entire Vicksburg campaign. About ten years ago, an employee at the visitors center discouraged my friend and me from going to Champion Hill, saying that it was not worth the visit. (We went anyway and it was worth it.)
I wish they would do some more work over at Champion Hill. I still recommend going to see the battlefield today. You can still view Bloody Hill, but it was only about half the height it was during the battle. During the 1930s, farmers removed the soil from there to use for their land. Much of the battlefield is covered in trees and foliage, making it difficult to see. Grant’s headquarters is located near a church that is often gated. There needs to be some work done to better preserve that battlefield. My hope is that with renewed efforts to protect Vicksburg will come an increasing interest in preserving Champion Hill.