We Have A Problem, Houston

[RJNorton]

Laurie asked me to post the following statement from her:

"Please be advised that the government is very serious about protecting this site so that they can conduct proper archaeological investigation. Surratt House has been contacted by the Public Affairs Office at Ft. A.P. Hill after they learned of exactly how many busloads of visitors we take to the site each year. They are making every effort to work with us, and we have also worked out a contingency plan. It would be greatly appreciated if no further action be considered on the part of small groups or individuals."

[Gene C]

(04-11-2014 08:07 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  Laurie asked me to post the following statement from her:

"Please be advised that the government is very serious about protecting this site so that they can conduct proper archaeological investigation.

That's interesting. They burn one of the buildings down to the ground, let the other fall down to gross neglect, build a major four lane highway through the property, wait over 150 years and then decide they want to protect the site so they can conduct a proper archaelolgical investigation. And to top it off, they reject the low construciton bid from Fido Excavation.

[RJNorton]

Many thanks to Rick Smith who sent these photos today. Rick has recently been at the Garrett site and stopped to take these images.

Regarding the site, Rick writes, "It looked much different from how it was when I was maintaining it; my sign is gone, weeds are high, path is blocked by a chain, all is in a state of ruin."

The first photo is from where the path begins, and the second one is the clearing where the Garrett house stood and where Booth died.

[Jim Garrett]

Interesting that the government wants to preserve a historically important median that ihas been used as a dump site. According to very knowledeable sources, the contour of the area was much changed with the addition of lanes for 301.

[Gene C]

Rick Smith used to maintain the site? Very cool

Since the government has only had their fingers in the pie for a few months, it's still real early to see what impact they will have. While it has it's place, I'm not a fan of big government. I'll hold my tongue for now (but it sure makes typing difficult)

[L Verge]

Rick made long treks of over a hundred miles one way numerous times each year for over a decade to keep the site spruced up. When the highway people decided to pick the historical marker up and move it to the wrong side of the road, Rick also went to his personal expense of having a sign made to sit in the correct pathway to the home site. We Boothies are dedicated to historic preservation - whether good events or bad events, related sites have changed our history in someway -- and the sites along the Booth escape route each played a part in a very significant event in history!

It has been interesting to me how one inquiry by a sloppily done TV show has brought about such change. The government has owned this property since the 1940s, and they have known about our Booth tour visits since 1977. They have never challenged the Surratt Society - and used to have an employee who would sometimes meet visitors to the site and talk history with them. Now, thanks to the Diggers program, everything is off limits.

[Warren]

Sad to contemplate, but they will in all probability eventually change the name of Fort A.P. Hill.

[L Verge]

Ya got that right! And, unfortunately, it's things like that that keep the "divide" alive.

[Gene C]

(09-19-2014 11:51 AM)Warren Wrote:  Sad to contemplate, but they will in all probability eventually change the name of Fort A.P. Hill.

They could rename it "Fort Over the Hill", for ........., never mind

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**** Just so no one get's the wrong idea, I don't think anyone on this forum is over-the-hill. And I'm not going to mention any names, because I might inadvertently leave someone out, but for me, many of you are great examples of sharing, caring, and teaching. You're at the top of the hill.