Civil War Battlefields
The impact of the American Civil War was such that virtually no American family was without personal acquaintance with someone who had suffered a loss, or the severe injury, of a friend or family member in the war. Shortly after the war ended local groups in the regions of the battlefields began movements to preserve some of the areas of conflict.
In Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Mississippi efforts to preserve battlefields and the burial grounds of troops who had fallen there took hold. These were augmented by family members traveling, occasionally by coach but most often by train or steamship, to honor their dead. The tradition of visiting America’s historical sites during vacation stems from this time.
Visitors to Manassas Virginia could take the time after touring Henry Hill and Bull Run Creek to stop by Monticello, a day’s coach ride away (the mansion was then nearly in ruins). Or they may have visited Mount Vernon, visible from the river, but not a tourist stop as it is today.
Similarly, those spending time on Seminary Ridge outside of Gettysburg could visit the National Cemetery dedicated by Abraham Lincoln to those who gave the “…last full measure of devotion.” Many of those touring the Civil War sites where their loved ones had fallen were appalled at the conditions they found, and took action to see that the sites were preserved, as they are today.
Almost all of the Civil War National Historical Sites and Parks are in the condition they are today because of the tourists in the latter part of the 19th century, who felt a family link to the places they visited while vacationing, and demanded that their government preserve them for posterity.