Cultural Landscape Report for Ellwood, Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania NMP
Auwaerter J, Harris PM, Curry GW. 2010. Cultural Landscape Report for Ellwood, Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania NMP. Cultural Landscape Report. E474.85.A99 2010. NPS Northeast Regional Office; Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation. Northeast Regional Office/Boston, MA
Ellwood, a modest Virginia plantation founded in the late eighteenth century, is a rural landscape with a Federal-period house facing east across farm fields and woods. Located near a historic crossroads, the tranquil Ellwood of today was the scene of significant action during the Civil War, including use as a Confederate field hospital during and after the Battle of Chancellorsville (Spring 1863) and as Federal headquarters a year later in the Battle of the Wilderness. In a field just south of the house lies the Ellwood cemetery, where a monument marks the burial site of General Stonewall Jackson’s arm which was amputated following his wounding at Chancellorsville. Ellwood became part of Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park in the early 1970s following a century of post-war private ownership as a working farm. The National Park Service (NPS) has since restored the exterior of the house and removed most of the adjoining twentieth-century farm buildings. Within the overall period of significance for the park, Ellwood’s period of significance begins in 1790 with the construction of the house (although actual construction may have begun in 1781) and ends following the Battle of the Wilderness in 1864. This period also extends to include 1903 for a single resource on the landscape, the Stonewall Jackson Arm monument. The landscape’s importance is associated with the Civil War battles of the area, its role in memorialization and commemoration efforts, and architectural styles of the antebellum plantation period in Virginia. Although Ellwood has lost features that existed during the Civil War, the landscape retains its historic rural character with many traces of its significant past. Despite this, Ellwood remains a secondary part of the Wilderness Battlefield, outside of the park tour route and with limited public access or connection to adjoining park lands. The visitor experience of the historic landscape is limited by entrance through a non-historic drive, and by successional woods that have blocked views and altered field patterns. Other challenges to the preservation and interpretation of the landscape are lack of adequate visitor and maintenance facilities and development pressure on adjoining lands. This report will address these issues by providing a comprehensive plan for preservation and enhancement of Ellwood’s cultural landscape based on documentation of its history, existing conditions, and significance.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Auwaerter, John; Harris, Paul; Curry, George
- Date of Issue
- 2010
- Publisher
- NPS Northeast Regional Office; Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation
- Units
- FRSP , NER
- Keywords
- Agriculture, Architecture, Battle of Chancellorsville, Battle of the Wilderness, Battlefield, cemetery, Civil War, CLR, Commemorative Landscape, Confederate Field Hospital, Crossroads, cultural landscape, cultural landscape report, Federal Headquarters, Federal Period, Forestry, landscape preservation, National Register, OCLP, Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation, Piedmont, plantation, Stonewall Jackson, SUNY, Virginia
- Subjects
- CRIS-CL: 300177: Ellwood , CRIS-CL: 300149: Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania NMP Landscape