Help Complete the Preservation of 97 Acres at Fisher’s Hill!

After more than a decade of efforts by the Battlefields Foundation and the landowner, we are finally ready to close the deal to preserve 97 crucial acres in the center of the Fisher’s Hill Battlefield.  This property was not only witness to war, its phenomenally picturesque, and links other preserved properties in a way that will allow us to create a unified visitor experience along more than two miles of battle front. 

To date, we’ve invested more than $164,000 in this project and together we’ve raised $113,000 to put toward those costs.  Every dime of those funds has been invested into the due diligence that this project in its many changing forms has required.  Multiple surveys, multiple appraisals, seemingly endless title work, attorneys fees, the list goes on and on.  But, even with the funds already raised, we are left with an unfunded debt of $68,872, which includes future costs such as a final property appraisal, final legal fees, and other transaction costs.

This is an incredibly small amount in comparison to the significance of this property and how imperative it is that this section of the battlefield is protected forever.  When you combine the total of all that has previously been expended on this project with what is left to raise, our total investment to preserve these 97 acres will be just $232,872!  It’s because of the Erbach family that we can protect 97 acres valued at well over $1,000,000 for little more than $232,000.

Without the burden of carrying this debt we will be free and able to move forward with the work needed to open the property to the public, forever transforming the visitor experience at Fishers Hill and drastically improving interpretation.  One look at the map and you can immediately see why this property was so critical to protect and how essential it is to the future of the battlefield as a battlefield park – an outdoor classroom.  This is core battlefield, hallowed ground and a place of reflection and remembrance – a place that must be protected.

Please consider joining this fight by making a contribution and let’s come together to save these 97 acres.  The actions of the Erbach family should remind all of us that our battlefields would be lost if not for the generosity of a dedicated few. Let’s push through to final victory at Fishers Hill!

Will Eichler of Civil War Digital Digest at the Fisher’s Hill Battlefield