Friends,
I’m thrilled to present another preservation opportunity: for just $33,000, we can preserve more than 23 acres of battlefield that is some of the most threatened in the Valley, if not the nation!
Today, the Hoke’s Run Battlefield is one of the least known and most threatened battlefields in the entire Valley. But, thanks to the generosity of a long-term resident and the vision of Berkeley County officials, you and I can save two separate parcels totaling more than 23 acres! These 23 acres figured prominently into the battle action and if you take a look at the map that I’ve included you will see that every one of these acres must be preserved – especially on a battlefield that is now almost totally lost to development.
With pressures increasing throughout the Valley including in West Virginia, the Berkeley County officials led by County Commissioner Steve Catlett reached out to us and asked if we would consider partnering with them to help preserve battlefield land at Hoke’s Run and Falling Waters. We immediately responded to the call and began working with them to put a strategy in place, prioritize possible target properties, and approach landowners. At the same time, we started discussing a large scale interpretation and tourism reboot for the County’s Civil War sites, and somewhere during those discussions we were looking at maps and aerial images and it was mentioned that a key parcel that was under development was actually being developed by the County and the School District as a community park. The land had been gifted to the School Board to be used as a future school site and in the meantime, officials had decided to construct a recreational park on the site with the possibility of pickleball courts, a community pool, practice fields, etc.
Donate to Save 23 Acres at Hoke's Run!
Right then and there, we made the ask. How about selling us that parcel and partnering to turn it into a different kind of a park – a Battlefield Park! The folks in Berkeley County are extremely visionary and great to work with – they listened to the pitch and jumped in right away honing the idea, and within an hour we were off to the races on a framework for the deal. The County agreed to sell us the 10-acre site for 50% of the value and jointly manage the park site in perpetuity. We’ll be responsible for capital improvements and interpretation infrastructure and the County will be responsible for park maintenance and upkeep. It is an amazing deal and creates the County’s first battlefield park and our first preservation victory in West Virginia!
Within weeks, the partnership was announced and community reaction was extremely positive. So positive, in fact, that a property owner near the new park site reached out to say that he wanted to preserve his 13-acre property nearby. When we looked at the maps to locate his parcel, we were thrilled. His property was immediately adjacent to the 36 acres preserved by the Farmland Protection Board and right in the middle of the core area of the battlefield!
Here’s what we need to come up with to get this done: We are expecting a $500,000 final purchase price for the County parcel. And we know we need the $50,000 for the Ressler easement, giving us an acquisition number of $550,000. We need to add to that an additional $33,000 to pay for our surveys, appraisals, a baseline documentation report, environmental site assessments, attorneys’ fees, and closing costs. That’s a total of $583,000.
We are applying to the National Park Service’s American Battlefield Protection Program for $500,000, leaving you and I to raise the remaining $83,000. To date, we've raised $50,000 and are just $33,000 away from our goal! That’s it! If we can come together and raise $33,000, we can preserve 23 acres at Hoke’s Run – the first battle fought in the Shenandoah Valley! We can achieve our first preservation victory in West Virginia!
For just $33,000, we can win this fight at Hoke's Run!
See you at the Front,
Keven Walker, Chief Executive Officer
Shenandoah Valley Battlefields