New Market Battlefield
Save Two Acres.
Open Fifty-Four.
Your gift will help protect core ground at New Market Battlefield, restore the historic landscape, and open 54 acres to the public.
- 2 acres
- Core battlefield to protect
- 54 acres
- To open to the public
- $200,000
- Our fundraising goal
- $3.43
- Unlocked for every $1 raised
A message from Keven Walker
A small parcel.
An extraordinary opportunity.
With massive preservation victories and great new projects now underway, it has been an amazing year for battlefields here in the Shenandoah Valley. Now, as the leaves start turning and the days get shorter, don’t think for a minute that we have any intention of slowing down. In fact, that’s why I’m reaching out today: to see if you’ll join me in taking on another project to save core battlefield.
This time, you and I can protect a 2-acre parcel on the New Market Battlefield—a parcel that saw heavy combat and figures prominently in our ability to open more than 50 additional acres to the public.
We’re not talking about big acreage, but we are talking about a big impact, both for preservation and interpretation!
Preserve · Restore · Open
From an abandoned motel to a battlefield gateway.
What’s even better, we have matching funds from the Commonwealth of Virginia to purchase the property and tear down the dilapidated and abandoned motel that stands on it—a non-historic structure where Confederate guns once blasted fire and iron.
Once the motel is gone, its parking lot will become the parking lot for a new 54-acre battlefield site with trails, cannons, interpretive markers, and historic fencing.
Now, we can provide access to a key part of that landscape and bring these important stories to life for visitors.
One project. Every part of our mission.
Two acres that make so much possible.
This is a great project that showcases every aspect of our mission. Preservation, restoration, interpretation, and economic development for our battlefield communities—it has it all, on a 2-acre lot.
Preservation
Protect core ground that saw heavy combat at New Market.
Restoration
Remove the motel and return the landscape toward its wartime appearance.
Interpretation
Bring battlefield stories to life with trails, cannons, markers, and historic fencing.
Community
Create a new reason for visitors to explore New Market and its history.
The story beyond Bushong Farm
Bring an overlooked battlefield back into view.
Look at the map and artist’s rendering, and you’ll see why this is such an exciting opportunity for visitors to New Market Battlefield. While most people know the story of the fighting around the Bushong Farm, heavy fighting also took place along the Valley Pike and across the eastern portion of the battlefield—an area that has long been overlooked.
Protecting this parcel will help visitors reach that ground and understand the important stories it holds.
The cost. The commitment. The opportunity.
The final $200,000 starts with us.
We’re looking at an all-in project cost of about $885,000. The Commonwealth of Virginia’s funding provides $685,000—leaving just $200,000 for us to raise. For a project like this, I think we can do it.
| Property purchase | $760,000 |
|---|---|
| Motel removal and site restoration, including fencing and signage | $125,000 |
| Total project cost | $885,000 |
| Commonwealth of Virginia funding | $685,000 |
| Needed from supporters | $200,000 |
What it takes to restore this ground
A substantial investment.
A lasting transformation.
These are not insignificant numbers, and there are some extenuating and unavoidable things that have driven them up.
First, the purchase price included the value of the motel not just as an improvement on the property but as an operating business. Second was asbestos. Removing and disposing of the asbestos in the motel is extremely expensive, costing more than $68,000. But it has to be done, and it must be done correctly.
Our other costs are extremely reasonable thanks in large part to our longtime friends and supporters, Jeff and Rose Jenkins. They own Pine Knoll Construction in Winchester, which has been retained to do the demolition work. They cut their price down to rock bottom because they believe in what we do and are excited about these projects.
On the plus side, we’re able to apply some of the direct appropriations we received from the Commonwealth of Virginia several years ago to every aspect of this project: $685,000 in all.
Stand shoulder to shoulder
Let’s get to work on saving this hallowed ground.
Here’s the deal: if you and I can come up with $200,000, we can complete the purchase of this property, tear down a dilapidated motel, restore the landscape to its wartime appearance, install historic fence lines and interpretive signage, and provide access to 54 currently inaccessible acres in the heart of the heaviest fought-over part of the New Market Battlefield.
Every acre we reclaim and every fence line we restore brings those now-silent fields back to life—and none of it happens without us standing shoulder to shoulder. Please take a moment today to make a gift, and let’s get to work on saving this hallowed ground.
I look forward to hearing from you,
Keven Walker