Stonewall Jackson Death Site: Cultural Landscapes Inventory, Fredericksburg And Spotsylvania County Battlefields Memorial National Military Park
Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation. 2021. Stonewall Jackson Death Site: Cultural Landscapes Inventory, Fredericksburg And Spotsylvania County Battlefields Memorial National Military Park. Cultural Landscapes Inventory Report. 976200. U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service. Boston, Massachusetts / CRIS-CL Database
The Stonewall Jackson Death Site is part of Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park (NMP), located in northeastern Virginia halfway between Washington D.C. and Richmond, Virginia. Covering over 7,000 acres, the park was designated by Congress in 1927 as a national military park for the purpose of preserving and commemorating the Civil War battles of Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania Court House, Wilderness, and Chancellorsville. Initially administered and developed by the U.S. War Department, the park was transferred in 1933 to civilian administration of the National Park Service (NPS). The Stonewall Jackson Death Site unit of Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania NMP is located approximately 15 miles south of Fredericksburg. It contains approximately 48 acres of the antebellum plantation Fairfield owned by Thomas Chandler, including the small plantation office where Confederate General Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson died on May 10, 1863. The Stonewall Jackson Death Site consists predominantly of a large, flat, open field, edged with successional-growth forest on the north, south, and east that separates it from suburban residential development beyond; a large open field occupies the west side of the CSX tracks. Near the center of the site is the only building that remains from the Fairfield plantation, the small Plantation Office (c.1828) where Stonewall Jackson died. Maintained lawns and a few shade trees surround the office, and within these areas are two historic markers, the Jackson Shrine Monument (1903) and the Chandler House ID Tablet. To the south of the Plantation Office is the historic Caretaker’s House (1942) built by the Civilian Conservation Corps, as well as a more recently added comfort station and shed. An access road to the site runs northwest from Stonewall Jackson Road, then turns northeast and terminates in a loop with parking along the northeast side. Brick sidewalks provide access from the parking area to the office, markers, and house. The Stonewall Jackson Death Site is significant under Criteria A, B, and D in the areas of Military, Commemoration, Conservation, and Archeology. The period of significance for the site is 1863-1942, beginning with the date of Jackson’s death (May 10, 1863) and ending when the Civilian Conservation Corps completed the Jackson Shrine Caretaker’s House (Quarters #3)
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation
- Date of Issue
- 2021-09-22
- Publisher
- U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
- Units
- FRSP , NER
- Keywords
- agricultural preservation, archeology, battlefield memorialization, CCC, Civil War, Civilian Conservation Corps, commemoration, conservation, Fairfield, Fairfield plantation office, historic site, Jackson Shrine Caretaker's House, Jackson Shrine site, military, monument, plantation, shrine, Thomas Chandler, Thomas J "Stonewall" Jackson, Virginia