Save Lynnwood Farm

Lying between the Blue Ridge Mountains and the South Fork of the Shenandoah River, Lynnwood traces its history to the mid-eighteenth century, when it was founded by Thomas Lewis, whose remains, along with those of his family, are found in a small cemetery next to the main house. The setting is magnificent; the view across the river, impeccable.

Nestled in a growing assemblage of protected battlefield properties, Lynnwood was at the epicenter of Jackson’s final victory during his famed 1862 Valley Campaign. It was across these fields that Union forces under Gen. Erastus B. Tyler clashed with Jackson’s Confederate troops, including the Stonewall Brigade, on June 9, 1862. The Federal battle line rested along Lewiston Lane, which cuts through the property; modern-day Lynnwood Road, (Route 708) traces that same route. At the end of Lynnwood Road, just across the Waynesboro-Elkton highway (US 340), rests the Coaling, where Union artillery was able to dominate the battlefield until repeated assaults by the Louisiana Brigade and other troops eventually won the height and forced the Federals to retreat.

In addition to its historic and agricultural values, the property has almost three miles of frontage on the South Fork of the Shenandoah River that will be permanently protected by a riparian forested buffer, providing substantial water quality benefits to the river and the Chesapeake Bay.

I need your help to place an easement on this property. We have a major partner lined up to assume 50 percent of the cost of this easement: the US Department of Agriculture’s Farm and Ranchland Protection Program, recognizing the distinctive agricultural value of the property. Other partners including the Commonwealth of Virginia are being asked to participate.

Your commitment to this protection effort will leverage your dollars in the range of 4 to 1. (Exact leverage will be determined when all partner participations are committed.)

I want to ask you to donate generously to this preservation effort. It is a battlefield preservation opportunity that must be realized. We want to have this transaction completed before the end of the year.

I hope that some supporters will be able to contribute as much as $10 for each acre that will be protected in this important project. While a gift of $4,240 may not be possible for you, perhaps you could consider giving a dollar for every acre preserved, $424. Rest assured that whatever amount you are able to contribute will be greatly appreciated and well-invested.

For a summary of the Battle of Port Republic and for a map of the property in relation to what has already been preserved, please download the PDFs below. And I thank you for your continuing commitment to preserving the Valley’s historic landscapes.

Sincerely,

Denman Zirkle

Executive Director