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**Fort Necessity/National Road**

**Interpretive and Education Center**

**Executive Summary**

Fort Necessity National Battlefield, located in Pennsylvania's Laurel
Highlands, is the only National Park site dedicated to commemorating the
French and Indian War and George Washington's first battle. The National
Road, traversing six states, 90 miles of which are in Southwestern
Pennsylvania, was the first road in the United States that was planned,
built and maintained by the federal government. The National Road had
tremendous impact on the political, economic and social development of
the country, both in its use and the debate surrounding its development.

In 1994, the National Park Service and the Pennsylvania State Heritage
Parks Program joined in a federal, state and private sector partnership
to advance the complementary missions of two of their respective sites.
The partnership is working to develop a state of the art, shared Visitor
and Interpretive Center for Fort Necessity and the National Road. The
proposed Visitor and Interpretive Center will be designed according to
green/sustainable design practices. The Center will chronicle the
complex story of a formative chapter in the nation's history. It will
shed light on events that had profound influence on the birth of our
country and it's early development, events that are not widely
understood or appreciated. The outstanding exhibits and programs created
for this Center will convey to a diverse public audience the
extraordinary importance of these events that occurred in Southwestern
Pennsylvania to the very existence of the United States as a country.

Special efforts are being made to forge deep and meaningful
relationships with regional educators, to enhance curricular development
and to serve as a valued resource to schools. The new Visitor Center's
will benefit greatly from being part of the National Park Service's
"Parks as Classrooms" program, which helps disseminate information well
beyond actual site visits to the Parks. The Center will also generate
regional tourism and spur economic development, certainly by evolving
into a major destination center in its own right, but also through its
commitment to far reaching collaborations with other attractions in the
Laurel Highlands and Pittsburgh area.

The new Visitor and Interpretive Center will give visitors a deep and
engaging look at the complex history that helped determine not only the
development of Southwestern Pennsylvania as it is today, but indeed, the
emergence and character of the United States as an independent nation.
An equally important outcome is the role it will play in positioning
Fayette County and the Laurel Highlands as a major tourist destination.

## Organizational Information

**Fort Necessity National Battlefield**, located in Farmington in
Pennsylvania's Laurel Highlands, is the only National Park site
dedicated to commemorating the French and Indian War. The battle fought
at Fort Necessity was the opening battle of that War, and marks George
Washington's first battle and only surrender. Fort Necessity National
Battlefield was established by an act of United States Congress in 1931
to "commemorate the Fort Necessity Campaign, the Braddock Campaign,
George Washington's early military career and to protect the associated
resources." Today, the park consists of the reconstructed Fort; the
surrounding battlefield earthworks; Jumonville Glenn (the site of the
critical skirmish preliminary to the full battle); General Braddock's
grave and traces of Braddock's road.

**National Road State Heritage Park** was established in 1994 by the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to preserve, interpret and promote the
first road in the United States that was planned, built and maintained
by the federal government. Begun in 1811, the road stretches from
Cumberland, Maryland to Vandalia, Illinois, with 90 miles running
through Southwestern Pennsylvania. From the late 1820's through the
1850's, the National Road was the primary road connecting the
established east to the western frontier. People, goods, services and
ideas crossed the mountains from east with returning trade from the
west. The debate over the development of the Road, then the constant use
of the Road played a pivotal role in the political, economic and social
development of the United States, contributing significantly to the
nation's transformation from an agricultural to a commercial economy.
The National Road passes in front of Fort Necessity, and includes other
important historic landmarks such as The Mount Washington Tavern (built
c.1827 on property once owned by George Washington) the Addison and
Searights Tollhouses and Nemacolin Castle. The National Road State
Heritage Park is a corridor passing through three Southwestern
Pennsylvania Counties (Fayette, Washington and Green, two cities
(Uniontown and Washington) and a number of townships, boroughs and
unincorporated areas. Though the National Road runs through six states,
the proposed Visitor and Interpretive Center will be the only National
Park facility presenting this story.

In 1994, the National Park Service and the Pennsylvania State Heritage
Parks Program joined in a federal, state and private sector partnership
to advance the complementary missions of two of their respective sites.
The partnership is working to develop a state of the art Visitor and
Interpretive Center for Fort Necessity \-- a National Park, and the
National Road \-- a Pennsylvania State Heritage Park. The proposed
Visitor and Interpretive Center will serve not only to chronicle the
complex story of a formative chapter in the nation's history, but will
also serve as a gateway to tourism -- especially from Washington,
Baltimore and points east -- and spur economic development in
Southwestern Pennsylvania.

Fortuitously, the partnership to develop a new Visitor and Interpretive
Center for Fort Necessity and the National Road dovetails with a larger
initiative and collaboration. It is intended to market all of
Southwestern Pennsylvania's French and Indian War sites (including but
not limited to Fort Ligonier, Fort Pitt and Bushy Run Battlefield). The
new Visitor and Interpretive Center will amply reward heightened visitor
awareness of the unique history of this region.

> The goals and plans of Fort Necessity and the National Road are
> complementary, compatible and mutually beneficial. The new Visitor and
> Interpretive Center will provide a more efficient and cost effective
> means to chronicle related histories, serve visitors, protect
> resources, enhance economic development and encourage new and repeat
> visitation to the region.

## 

## The Project

The new Visitor and Interpretive Center will serve as a gateway to the
history of the region, spotlighting its impact on the development of the
United States. The 14,000 square foot facility, designed by nationally
acclaimed architect Susan Maxman of Philadelphia to grace its woodland
setting, will include:

-   4,500-square feet of exhibit space;

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-   a 60-seat auditorium and theater;

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-   a c. 900-square foot education/special programs room;

-   interactive information kiosks providing linkage to other regional
    historic, cultural and recreational attractions;

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-   a bookstore and gift shop;

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-   a library for scholarly research

-   restrooms

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-   museum standard storage and office space

The new Visitor and Interpretive Center also reflects the National
Park's and Ms. Maxim's commitment to green, sustainable design. The
facility incorporates:

-   Use of tectum as an absorptive, acoustical wall panel, and a
    renewable resource.

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-   Installation of cork floors, a renewable resource, throughout the
    visitor use area of building, plus a variety of other sustainable
    practices incorporated such as use of manufactured wood system (for
    handrails, benches, etc.).

The new facility will replace a small, 30-year-old Fort Necessity
Visitor Center that was designed for summer use only, accommodates no
more than 50 people at a time, and offers only an extremely limited
interpretive exhibition. Even with these limitations, nearly 100,000
people visit Fort Necessity annually, albeit more than half of them
visiting trails and picnic areas only. The approximately 8,000 visitors
to National Road interpretive sites are now served even more
inadequately by tiny facilities staffed only sporadically by volunteers.

##### **The Exhibit** 

The renowned exhibit design firm, Christopher Chadbourne Associates,
Inc. (perhaps best known regionally for the striking exhibit, "Glass:
Shattering Notions" at the Senator John Heinz Regional History Center
and all the exhibits at The Railroaders' Museum in Altoona) has been
commissioned to design the exhibit telling the stories of Fort Necessity
and the National Road. The stories they have been charged to tell are
powerful ones:

#### the clash of several cultures struggling for control of the North American continent;

####  how this struggle ultimately led to the birth of the United States as an independent nation; 

#### how and why the National Road helped forge the economic, political and social character of the young United States. 

Despite its unfolding in a glen and meadow of Fayette County, the French
and Indian War or Seven Years' War (as it is known in Europe) is little
understood by those raised and educated in Southwestern Pennsylvania,
let alone by the majority of Americans. While most Americans consider
the War a "hazy backdrop to the Revolution," from a worldview "the Seven
Year's War was far more significant than the War of American
Independence."[^1] Indeed, scholarship makes the case, that without the
Seven Years' War, American independence would have been forestalled,
probably would not have required a war of liberation, or may not have
occurred at all.

An ambitious goal of the new Visitor and Education Center is, therefore,
to elevate visitors' understanding and appreciation of this critical
epoch in national history. Just as importantly, the exhibit demonstrates
how something as seemingly mundane to modern sensibilities as the
development of the National Road was in reality a struggle amongst
federal, state, local and individual interests that had staggering
impact on the character of the emerging nation.

The exhibit will engage visitors of all ages, interests and backgrounds
by immersing them in environments that orient them to the diverse
cultures, customs, and physical realities of mid-eighteenth century
Pennsylvania. History is a subjective interpretation of circumstances
and actions forged as much by the uncelebrated as by a handful of
powerful people. The diverse viewpoints of the unheralded as well as
those of famous participants will be conveyed.

A tentative outline of the exhibit follows:

-   *Welcome:* A panel will deliver a welcoming message from the
    National Park Service and from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. In
    addition, there will be a life size statue of Tanacharisson, an
    adopted Seneca, made the Half King by the Onondaga Council and sent
    down to the Ohio River Valley in 1747. He was a pivotal player in
    the events of the French and Indian War. An audio will deliver the
    "Edge of the Woods Ceremony" speech to visitors, welcoming them in
    the Native custom.

-   *Footsteps into History:* takes visitors on a reverse timeline from
    20^th^ century Route 40 back to Nemacolin's Trail (1752). Cast
    figures are juxtaposed with artifacts, props and opinions to
    colorfully communicate a sense of time, place and outlooks.

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-   *The Volley:* the shocking skirmish in the densely wooded Jumonville
    Glen explores one of the most controversial events in George
    Washington's career. Here Washington, a young and inexperienced but
    courageous leader, ambushed a group of Frenchmen led by Ensign
    Jumonville. The circumstances of Jumonville's death flame the
    controversy.

-   *Colliding Cultures:* examines the extraordinarily delicate balance
    of power between British, French and Native American cultures and
    their competing interests in the Ohio River Valley. A six-foot
    artist's interpretation of a Wampum belt ~~(~~the medium for
    conveying contracts and agreements in Native American cultures)
    immerses visitors in the difficulty of communicating across
    languages and cultures.

-   *The Council:* On June 19^th^, 1754 a Council meeting was held about
    10 miles away from Fort Necessity, and was attended by
    representatives of 10 Indian nations, including representatives of
    the Iroquois Six Nations, the Loups, the Mingoes, the Shawnee, and
    the Delaware. Young George Washington tried in vain to convince the
    Indians to "take up the hatchet against the French." For four
    reasons they declined: Washington's forces were outnumbered by more
    than 2 to 1; they knew Washington had little military experience; at
    a previous Onondaga Council they were instructed to remain neutral;
    and their first priority was the safety of the women and children.
    They advised Washington to leave as well, but he chose to remain
    behind. There would be no Indians fighting on the side of the
    British at the battle of Fort Necessity, which would take place two
    weeks hence. The decision of Washington to stay, set in motion a
    series of events that would eventually lead to the first battle of
    the French and Indian War.

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-   *The Battle of Fort Necessity, July 3, 1754:* blasts of gunfire, the
    roar of torrential rain, the cries of injured men and animals,
    bursts of light create the ambiance of confusion and terror. Murals
    on opposite walls (created by the famous French and Indian War
    artist Robert Griffin) and viewed through a transparent (rain
    curtain) will give visitors both the British and French and Indian
    perspectives of the battle.

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-   *Washington Surrenders:* and, through a Dutch interpreter, confesses
    to the "assassination" of French Ensign Jumonville. The challenge of
    negotiating in the aftermath of battle through language and cultural
    barriers is enormous.

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-   *Braddock's Road and the Battle of the Monagahela:* a devastating
    and ignominious defeat for the resolutely professional Major General
    Edward Braddock, who lost his life in this engagement. The
    difficulty of transporting troops, weapons, supplies, livestock and
    camp followers over mountainous terrain foreshadows the importance
    of the National Road to come.

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-   ***Consequences of the French and Indian War and the Birth of a
    Nation:*** Even though the exhibits in general will focus on the
    pivotal events that unfolded in the immediate environs of Fort
    Necessity, Jumonville Glen, and the Braddock's Road, they will also
    present the consequences of these events on the North American
    continent, in the world at large, and on the birth of the United
    States as a nation.

> The stage is accordingly set for the exhibit to turn to the early part
> of the nineteenth century and the need for, the debate over and the
> development of the National Road. The National Road story captures the
> essence of the myriad challenges confronting the new nation. The
> exhibit makes a logical segue into its next areas of concentration*:*

-   *Building a Nation:* settlement and economic development were
    determined by the arduous transporting of goods such as books, salt,
    nails, iron and gun powder heading west to be traded for hides, bear
    grease, snakeroot and rye sent eastward in return.

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-   *Whiskey Rebellion, 1794:* Western Pennsylvania farmers rose in
    revolt against the government's excise tax on distilled spirits. The
    authority of the federal government was established by the quick
    quashing of the rebellion; at the same time attention was focused on
    the dire circumstances of citizens of the west cut off by primitive
    transportation from the well-developed east.

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-   *The National Road Debate:* key players Thomas Jefferson, Alexander
    Hamilton, James Madison and Secretary of the Treasury (and Fayette
    County native) Albert Gallatin debate familiar issues of
    constitutionality, tax battles, states vs. federal rights, lobbying
    of special interests.

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-   *Building the Road:* hand made by Irish laborers with chisels and
    hammers, earning \$6.00 per week to crush stone to exacting
    specifications.

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-   *The Heyday---1820-1850*: Walking through a dramatic Conestoga wagon
    embedded in a mural, visitors enter a teeming, bustling scene. A
    moving tableau or "cyclorama" conveys the multitude of travelers,
    livestock and goods constantly traversing the road, and the
    consequent commerce springing up along the way. This hall will be
    "furnished" with artifacts or recreated objects, complemented by the
    stories they tell.

-   *The Tavern*: Visitors encounter the "far flung individuals" brought
    together by the National Road as they enter a tavern typical of the
    mid-nineteenth century. Overheard conversations might include: "The
    goodnes (sic) of God must have been in Congress unknownst to them;
    when they fell about to & Erected a land for the Making of the great
    Turnpike road which is the Salvation

> of those Mountains or Western Countrys (sic) & more benefit to the
> human family than Congress have any knowledge...."[^2]

-   *Decline, Resurgence, Decline*: The first locomotive reaches the
    Ohio River in 1853 beginning a spiral of decline that transforms
    National Road to a local road. However, the mass availability of the
    automobile in the first half of the twentieth century stimulates the
    creation of a concrete ribbon known as US Route 40 and complete with
    motels, restaurants, stores and filling stations. In the 1950s,
    Congress passed the Interstate Highway Act (a later iteration of
    Gallatin's thwarted vision) and spent \$250 billion building
    interstate highways that once again relegated the National Road to
    use primarily for local transportation.

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-   ***Telling History's Stories:***

At its conclusion, the exhibit will examine history as a subjective,
changing, evolving phenomenon. Interpretations of history are dependent
on the evidence available and the quality and bias of the analysis
thereof. Fort Necessity eloquently demonstrates this point. Almost as
noteworthy as the battle itself is the fact that Fort Necessity
experienced one of the most significant reinterpretations ever made of
historic events in light of archaeological evidence. The large
rectangular reconstruction of the Fort built in 1932 was erroneously
based on the surrounding trenches George Washington had ordered built
around the fort. This larger scale was perhaps more in keeping with
people's conceptions at the time of a military fortification. However,
excavations made in 1953 and substantiated by another look at historic
documentation revealed the small circular fort that today's
reconstruction commemorates. Just as clearly, the National Road story
unfolded overtime -- and continues to do so. This section of the exhibit
will also address the significance of what society chooses to
commemorate and how, whom it chooses to listen to and why. The door
always remains ajar for future interpretations.

##### **B. The Film** {#b.-the-film .unnumbered}

**Road to America** presents an inclusive, kaleidoscopic portrait of the
people, places and events that forged the stories of Fort Necessity and
the National Road. The approximately 18-minute film conducts viewers on
a dynamic pilgrimage across time and territory, capturing myriad voices
and visions of the past. Viewers encounter Native Americans awestruck by
the arrival of Europeans; tales of "militia, murder and surrender;"
international intrigue and imperial conflicts; the hustle and bustle of
burgeoning commerce and travel. The film witnesses George Washington's
evolution from a callow Virginia wilderness surveyor to militia captain
to Revolutionary war hero and finally to an entrepreneur seeking
"internal improvements" and profitability.

At the same time, the **Road to America** avoids the singular stuff of
myth. Instead, the film offers the multiple perspectives of Native
Americans, colonists, English and French, revealing the complex social
and ethnic strands that shaped the fabric of history. The film provides
an affective, anecdotal, authenticated *dialogue*: voiceovers taken from
journals, diaries, ledgers daybooks and travel writings that reflect
diverse classes, trades and cultures.

From virgin forests to fiber optics, **Road to America** honors the
history of a natural landscape that has stood witness to profound human
events and impacts. Mountains and meadows, skirmishes and battles, roads
and bridges, wagons and livestock, internal improvements and rebellions
all converge along a vital pathway of progress from a wild game trail to
a teeming superhighway. The film presents time lapses of sunlight slowly
moving across ancient forest giving way to flashing headlights and the
cacophony of speeding trucks along I-40.

**Road to America** poignantly reminds viewers who they are and where
they come from through glimpses of the founders and foundations of
America's democracy and economy. Filmed in 35mm with a 16:9 ratio
format, the film will be shown in a state of the art theater featuring
"5.1" surround-sound and DVD video projection system. When completed
**Road to America** will reflect the highest production values, creative
talent and technical quality available.

### **C. Educational Programs**

Enhanced educational programming and the development of a meaningful
relationship with regional educators is a top priority for the new
Visitor and Interpretive Center at Fort Necessity. The natural and
cultural resources of the National Park Service are at the heart of what
has been called the nation's "greatest university without walls." The
education programs at the new Visitor and Interpretive Center at Fort
Necessity National Battlefield will tie into the "Parks as Classrooms"
programs, a national initiative intended to:

-   build partnerships between parks and conventional educational
    institutions and other community groups;

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-   provide practical hands-on experience and opportunities to learn
    about the resources of the National Parks with or without a site
    visit;

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-   provide professional development opportunities to teachers and offer
    alternatives to supplement textbooks and lesson plans.

The new facility will include an 800-square foot education/special
program room. Staff at Fort Necessity National Battlefield are committed
to developing curriculum and standards based educational programs for
formal school programs, and recognize this can only be done with the
input of regional educators. To that end it has put together an
Education Advisory Committee, consisting of faculty from the Education
Department of California University of Pennsylvania, regional elementary
classroom and gifted program teachers, and representatives from Tsongas
Regional History Center & Lowell National Park and The Pittsburgh
Children's Museum.

The Committee identified three criteria necessary for effective on-site
educational programming. Programs must:

1.  relate to the school's curriculum and state standards;

2.  relate to the site's themes;

3.  use the site's resources in a manner they could not be used in a
    classroom.

Furthermore, pre- and post-visit curricular materials must be developed
to prepare teacher and students for and extend the impact of their
on-site educational program.

The Education Advisory Committee has selected upper elementary,
specifically fourth and fifth grades for its initial educational
programs. In Pennsylvania, fourth graders study Pennsylvania history and
Native American culture. Fifth graders study American history, including
the French and Indian War.

Beyond its deep commitment to school and youth groups, staff at Fort
Necessity National Battlefield understand the importance of another
critical visitor to an historic site, one frequently overlooked in the
planning and design of a visitor center: the toddler to elementary age
child tourist. A large portion of the heritage tourism user groups at
both national parks and at state heritage areas are families with
children. In addition to providing an engaging museum experience the new
Visitor and Interpretive Center provide an area for children to play in
this rich educational context.

Kids just need to be kids. Younger visitors can unwind and explore in an
interpretive playground behind the visitor center that features an
approximately 20' by 20' climbing structure. This will be evocative of
Fort Necessity, made of recycled materials, comply with safety and
access standards. Around the climbing structure will be inviting,
eye-level to young children interpretive panels that introduce the major
participants in Fort Necessity's history. Accompanying these, will be
hints for adults suggesting activities and discusses to further enhance
children's understanding of historical events.

A lawn area where families can relax after spending time in the Visitor
Center, visiting the Fort, having a ranger-led tour, riding in the car,
or just to have a picnic lunch will surround the playground. The new
Visitor and Interpretive Center will be a family-friendly destination
for the region's cultural and recreational tourists.

[^1]: Anderson, Fred, The Crucible of War, (New York, 2000), p. xvi

[^2]: Sarah Anderson, 1800, from Shank, William, [Three Hundred Years
    with the Pennsylvania Traveler]{.underline}, p.38