“There’s more American history and heritage in this swath of land than any other place in the country. And in 2005, the same region was declared one of the 11 most historically endangered places in the country by the National Trust. It lies just on the edge of Washington, D.C., and in measureable terms, on a daily basis, we were seeing so much of it lost. Not intentionally and not maliciously. Just because people were not mindful of what was here,” she said.
It may be a small slice of the country as far as distance goes, but a very large chunk of history.
“In this swath of land we found that there are nine presidential homes, from Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, straight through to Eisenhower. There are sites from the French and Indian War, the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812 and the largest concentration of Civil War battlefields in the country,” she said.
And it is the Civil War that’s the subject of the Living Legacy Project. The goal is to plant one tree for each of the soldiers – both union and confederate – who lost their lives.
The first of the trees have been planted at Oatlands, Virginia, a National trust site. It’s the geographical center of the Journey Through Hallowed Ground National Scenic Byway. Some 400 trees are being planted or dedicated at Oatlands with many more to come.
“620,000 men died in the Civil War. Many of whom fought on the battlefields within our National Heritage area. So our notion was to plant one tree for each man, and march those 620,000 trees up our National Scenic Byway, Route 15, straight on up to Gettysburg. And as we do so, we allow each visitor to understand that those trees represent a life, a life, a life, as they pass,” she said.
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2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25