Best Farm: Cultural Landscape Report, Monocacy National Battlefield, National Park Service
Earley J, Everett J, Zhang G. 2005. Best Farm: Cultural Landscape Report, Monocacy National Battlefield, National Park Service. Cultural Landscape Report. MONO D-52. NPS National Capital Regional Office. National Capital Regional Office
Best Farm is one of the properties within the Monacacy National Battlefield, located south of Frederick, Maryland. The primary goal for the overall park is to interpret several events of the Civil War that took place on this landscape, particularly the July 9, 1864 Battle of Monocacy. The role of Maryland as a border state between the Union and the Confederacy is also told through interpretation of the park’s resources. The properties around the battlefield form an essentially unchanged agricultural landscape. The transportation corridors that still exist developed along with early agricultural and industry, lending strategic importance to the site during the Civil War. Three of the park’s Civil War monuments are on the Best Farm landscape, including the 14th New Jersey Monument, the monument placed by the United Daughters of the Confederacy, and the monument erected by the Maryland Civil War Centennial Commission. Monocacy National Battlefield was established as a unit of the NPS in 1934, but the farm properties were not purchased until later in the century. The Best Farm was acquired by the National Park Service (NPS) in 1993 from the Mathias family and other Trail descendants, whose ownership of the property dates to 1835. The park helps to preserve the Civil War battlefield, as well as the agrarian landscape that is similar in appearance as it was during the battle. Since the property’s tenants moved in 1999, the park has repaired buildings, cleared debris, and conducted archeological study of the Best Farm. The park’s primary visitor facilities were relocated to an unoccupied corner of Best Farm, allowing for an expansion of the interpretive program with fewer intrusions on the historic landscape. This Cultural Landscape Report assembles a description of the historical character of Best Farm through documentation and archeological study. Primary recommendations for the site focus on improving the circulation system for visitor access, removal of non-contributing structures, and preservation of the spatial relations and boundaries of the site.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Earley, Judith; Everett, Jeff; Zhang, Grace
- Date of Issue
- 2005
- Publisher
- NPS National Capital Regional Office
- Units
- MONO , NCR
- Keywords
- Agricultural Field, Archeology, Battle Site, Battlefield Preservation, Battles In The North And South, Conservation, farm, Ford, Frederick Maryland, Historic Preservation, Military, monuments, National Historic Landmark, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, plantation, Railroad, River, Shaping the Political Landscape, Slavery, The Civil War, Transforming the Environment, Transportation, United Daughters of the Confederacy, Vermont, Vernacular
- Subjects
- CRIS-CL: 600201: Monocacy National Battlefield