Andersonville National Historic Site Historic Resource Study

Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc; Slaton, Deborah

This Historic Resource Study (HRS) records the cultural history of Andersonville National Historic Site, a unit of the National Park System located within southwest Georgia. Andersonville National Historic Site protects, honors, and interprets Civil War-era events and activities associated with use of the site as a Confederate prison from 1863 through 1865, the subsequent development of the Andersonville National Cemetery, and several eras of protection and commemoration leading to park establishment in 1970. Today, the park is also home of the National Prisoner of War Museum, a significant place of public remembrance and education. The HRS is the primary document used by the National Park Service to identify and manage the historic resources within a park. It forms the basis for understanding their significance and interrelationships, a point of departure for the development of interpretive plans, and a framework for identifying additional research needs. Historic resource studies also document and assess surviving physical evidence of the historic cultural activities associated with a property within relevant historic contexts, and identifies their eligibility for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. The goal of the HRS in this regard is to develop relevant thematic contexts sufficiently that the historical, aesthetic, technical, or scientific associations of structures within the park can be evaluated. The HRS alsoincludes sufficient information about the developmental history or evolution of each structure to enable assessment of its integrity. Finally, the HRS contains sufficient information about the contributing environment of each structure to enable National Register boundaries to be defined and possible overlaps with cultural landscapes and archeological or ethnographic resources to be identified. This information is intended to support protection of a park’s cultural resources for the enjoyment of future generations.

Andersonville National Historic Site Historic Resource Study

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