Today the population is approaching 600,000. As the county grew, homes and businesses replaced trees and forests, leaving virtually no open green space. As a result, the battleground became a recreational park with about 1.2 million visitors per year. It's one step away from a graveyard and one step away from a memorial. Spurred by Internet trading, television documentaries and the proliferation of Civil War re-enactment and relic shows, the popularity of Civil War artifacts, particularly Confederate items, has tripled in the past decade.
Private collectors are like people who buy stock.
This is our investment. There were so fewer Confederate artifacts produced that they can double or triple in value compared to the federal items. And if the original owner can be identified, the value can quadruple. While relic hunting is illegal at national parks, it has not deterred amateurs or professionals from looting, and in the process, damaging the land. At Kennesaw, dirt trenches, or earthworks, built by Confederate troops to protect them from advancing Union soldiers, have been severely damaged or destroyed by relic seekers who dig for artifacts and by motor bikers, who use the land as an obstacle course.