Kings Mountain National Military Park: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Kings Mountain National Military Park, National Park Service

Rapp, Michelle

Kings Mountain National Military Park (NMP) is located in Blacksburg, South Carolina. The cultural landscape corresponds with the boundaries of the 3,945-acre park, spanning Cherokee and York counties. Battlefield Ridge rises in the central eastern portion of the forested park, which is currently preserved as a military park and recreation area. The National Register listing for Kings Mountain NMP was initially made in 1966 and updated in 1975, although the property was not fully documented until early 1995. Through this effort, the park’s cultural landscape is adequately documented with only minor exceptions. Notable for its identity as a Revolutionary War battlefield landscape, the period of significance for the park was expanded to include National Park Service (NPS) development under the New Deal in 1933-1942, as well as local rural settlement. Landscape features were also addressed, and lists of resources at the park were updated. The Kings Mountain NMP landscape is significant within four historic contexts. The first, September-October 1780, is associated with the Revolutionary War Battle of Kings Mountain that was fought here. The site is significant during a second period, 1815-1939, for its role in commemoration efforts organized by individuals and local groups to honor the American Revolution. Features dating to the period of 1803-1940 are representative of rural settlement patterns and vernacular architecture in the South Carolina Piedmont. Finally, the landscape is significant for its associations with park development and architecture, dating to the period 1932-1942 and coinciding with early years of NPS administration. In 1780, the battlefield landscape appeared as a cleared ridge top with wooded slopes in a rural, agrarian setting; the topography and vegetation were determining factors of the Patriot victory in this pivotal battle. The Battle of Kings Mountain was waged on October 7, 1780 between local Patriot militia and Loyalist supporters. After the battle and the end of the Revolutionary War, the land returned to private ownership prior to its development as a commemorative landscape beginning in 1880. Beyond the battleground, the park is preserved as a woodland buffer zone, interspersed with road traces, burial sites, quarries, park infrastructure, and remnants of scattered homesteads. Two homesteads constructed after the Revolutionary War period – the Henry Howser House and the Lottie Goforth/Mary Morris Norman House – are identified as component landscapes. Kings Mountain Battlefield and Battleground Road continue to be significant historic resources, retaining aspects of integrity that convey the landscape’s significance during the various stages of its history. The topography and densely-forested hills, contributing factors in the strategy and outcome of the 1780 battle, remain largely unchanged. Some of the historic views from the ridge top have been lost, along with the location of Ferguson and the Loyalists’ route to the top. Indications of the site’s commemorative history also persist, with monuments and trails attesting to the memorial architecture trends, original design, and events held at the site. Historic homesteads and cemeteries within the landscape express varying degrees of integrity, some outbuildings and features lost but other elements appearing much as they did during this time of architectural development and settlement in the area. Signs of the Park Development Era (1932-42) are also still present in the landscape, including building styles, interpretive features, and circulation patterns. Taken as a whole, the Kings Mountain National Military Park conveys the significance of each of these historic periods.

Kings Mountain National Military Park: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Kings Mountain National Military Park, National Park Service

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