Valley Forge National Historical Park

Valley Forge National Historical Park is the site of the third winter encampment of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War from December 19, 1777 to June 19, 1778. The National Park Service preserves the site and interprets the history of the Valley Forge encampment. The park contains historical buildings, recreated encampment structures, memorials, museums, and recreation facilities.

The park encompasses  and is visited by over 1.2 million people each year. Visitors can see restored historic structures, reconstructed structures such as the iconic log huts, and monuments erected by the states from which the Continental soldiers came. Visitor facilities include a visitor center and museum featuring original artifacts and providing an introduction to the American Revolution and the Valley Forge encampment. Ranger programs, tours (walking and trolley), and activities are available seasonally. The park also provides  of hiking and biking trails, which are connected to a regional trails system. Wildlife watching, fishing, and boating on the nearby Schuylkill River also are popular.

Historical encampment

The Continental Army was encamped at Valley Forge from December 19, 1777 to June 19, 1778, amounting to approximately 12,000 troops. The site was chosen because it was in the center of the Second Continental Congress in York, supply depots in Reading, and British forces following the Battle of Brandywine and fall of Philadelphia. It was a time of great suffering for the Continental Army, but it was also a time of retraining and rejuvenation. The shared hardship of the officers and soldiers of the army and Baron Friedrich von Steuben's professional military training program are considered key to the subsequent success of the Continental Army, and they marked a turning point in the Revolutionary War.

Park history
Valley Forge was established as the first state park of Pennsylvania in 1893 by the Valley Forge Park Commission (VFPC) "to preserve, improve, and maintain as a public park the site on which General George Washington's army encamped at Valley Forge." The area around Washington's headquarters was chosen as the park site. In 1923, the VFPC was brought under the Department of Forests and Waters, then incorporated into the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission in 1971.

Valley Forge was designated a U.S. National Historic Landmark in 1961 and was listed in the initial National Register of Historic Places in 1966.  The area covered by these listings goes outside what was the Valley Forge State Park boundaries to include four historic houses where the Marquis de Lafayette and other officers were quartered.

In 1976, Pennsylvania gave the park as a gift to the nation for the United States Bicentennial. Congress passed a law signed by President Gerald Ford on July 4, 1976, authorizing the addition of Valley Forge National Historical Park as the 283rd Unit of the National Park System and allocating a budget for essential facilities.

The Centennial and Memorial Association of Valley Forge was incorporated in 1878 with the purpose of saving, acquiring, and preserving General Washington’s Headquarters and surrounding acreage. A large Centennial event was held on June 19, 1878, the 100th anniversary of Washington’s Army exiting Valley Forge.

Features and facilities

Visitor center

The park's visitor center includes a museum with artifacts found during excavations of the park, an interactive muster roll of Continental soldiers encamped at Valley Forge, ranger-led gallery programs and walks, a story telling program, a photo gallery, a visitor information desk, and a store for books and souvenirs. Ninety-minute bus tours of the park and bike rentals are available seasonally. The 18-minute film "Valley Forge: A Winter Encampment" is shown in the park's theater next door.

Headquarters buildings

A key attraction of the park is the restored colonial home used by General George Washington as his headquarters during the encampment.  Rehabilitation of the headquarters area was completed in summer 2009 and included the restoration of the old Valley Forge train station into an information center, new guided tours, new exhibits throughout the landscape, and the elimination of several acres of modern paving and restoration of the historic landscape.  Quarters of other Continental Army generals are also in the park, including those of Huntington, Varnum, Lord Stirling, Lafayette, and Knox.

Reconstructed works and buildings

Throughout the park there are reconstructed log cabins of the type thought to be used during the encampment. Earthworks are visible for the defense of the encampment, including four redoubts, the ditch for the Inner Line Defenses, and a reconstructed abatis. The British burned the original forges on Valley Creek three months before Washington's occupation of the area; neither the Upper Forge site nor the Lower Forge site has been reconstructed.

Washington Memorial Chapel

The Washington Memorial Chapel and National Patriots Bell Tower carillon sit atop a hill at the center of the park. The chapel is a functioning Episcopal Church, built as a tribute to Washington. The bell tower houses the Daughters of the American Revolution Patriot Rolls, listing those who served in the Revolutionary War.

Memorial markers

The National Memorial Arch dominates the southern portion of the park and is dedicated "to the officers and private soldiers of the Continental Army December 19, 1777 – June 19, 1778". It was commissioned by Congress in 1910 and completed in 1917. It is inscribed with George Washington's tribute to the perseverance and endurance of his army:

The drive is lined with large memorial stones for each of the brigades that encamped there.  Crossing Gulph Road at the arch, the drive proceeds through the Pennsylvania Columns and past the hilltop statue of Anthony Wayne on horse.  More brigade stones line Port Kennedy Road.

Mount Joy Observation Tower

A steel observation tower used to stand on top of Mount Joy, the highest elevation in the main park area, but it was closed in the 1980s because of deterioration and liability concerns. It was removed and shipped to a private area near Wellsboro, Pennsylvania, where people can still climb it.

Trails

There are  of hiking and biking trails within the park, such as the Valley Creek Trail and the River Trail. The main trail is the Joseph Plumb Martin Trail, which encircles 8.7 miles of the park. Portions of regional trails also run through the park, including the Horse Shoe Trail and the Schuylkill River Trail.

Recreation
The many trails in Valley Forge allow for different activities such as jogging, walking and biking. Other activities include horseback riding and canoeing/kayaking. There are three picnic areas located on the site. In addition, Park Rangers dressed in period uniforms are stationed as the Muhlenburg Brigade Huts and Washington's Headquarters, ready to inform visitors about the historic events that happened on the site. The Valley Forge 5-Mile Revolutionary Run is also held in the park every April.

Train station

The Valley Forge Train Station is near Washington's Headquarters. It was completed in 1911 by the Reading Railroad and was the point of entry to the park for travelers who came by rail through the 1950s from Philadelphia,  distant. The station was restored in 2009 and is used as a museum and information center that offers visitors a better understanding of Washington's Headquarters and the village of Valley Forge. It is constructed of the same type of stone as Washington's Headquarters.

Modern problems

In 2001, a privately held  tract of land was offered for sale within the park boundaries. Toll Brothers, a real estate development company, purchased it for $2.5 million. The Federal Government bought it from the developer two years later for $7.5 million.

In 2007, the non-profit American Revolution Center purchased  of land within the park boundary with plans to construct a conference center, hotel, retail, campground, and museum on the site. The National Parks Conservation Association and local citizens sued Lower Providence Township over the zoning change that enabled this proposal. The two parties agreed to allow NPS to keep the land, and in exchange, the American Revolution Center was given property in Philadelphia, where it built the Museum of the American Revolution.

An overpopulation of white-tailed deer has resulted in "changes in the species composition, abundance, and distribution of native plant communities and associated wildlife" in the park.  In 2008, the National Park Service released a draft deer management plan and environmental impact statement for public review. The intent of the plan was to "support long-term protection, preservation, and restoration of native vegetation and other natural resources within the park."  Hunting is prohibited by the legislation that created the park, and action by Congress would be required before it could be sanctioned.

Gallery

See also

Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge
List of National Historic Landmarks in Pennsylvania

References

External links

Video showing various parts of the park from 2016

 
National Historical Park
National Historical Parks of the United States
National Historic Landmarks in Pennsylvania
Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania
Historic American Buildings Survey in Pennsylvania
Historic American Engineering Record in Pennsylvania
Museums in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania
Museums in Chester County, Pennsylvania
Protected areas established in 1893
American Revolutionary War museums in Pennsylvania
National Park Service areas in Pennsylvania
Parks in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania
Parks in Chester County, Pennsylvania
History museums in Pennsylvania
Schuylkill River National and State Heritage Area
National Register of Historic Places in Chester County, Pennsylvania
National Register of Historic Places in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania
Parks on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania
American Revolution on the National Register of Historic Places
Upper Merion Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania
Protected areas of Chester County, Pennsylvania
Protected areas of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania
1893 establishments in Pennsylvania
Tredyffrin Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania

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