Parks Farmstead: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Antietam National Battlefield, National Park Service

Ribeiro Jones, Angelina

Parks Farmstead, also known as Cunningham Farm, is a component landscape of Antietam National Battlefield. Located approximately 2 miles north of the town of Sharpsburg in Washington County, Maryland, the current property consists of nearly all of the land associated with the Parks Farmstead as it existed at the time of the Battle of Antietam (Sharpsburg), September 17, 1862. The current property, consisting of 166.50 acres, was acquired by the National Park Service on June 24, 1988 and is located within the boundaries of Antietam National Battlefield which encompass a total of 3,263.49 acres. Antietam National Battlefield was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a historic district on October 15, 1966, with a formal nomination approved in 1982 and additional documentation completed in 1999 and approved by the Keeper in 2009. The entire battlefield is listed under Criterion A for its association with the Battle of Antietam (16-18 September 1862). In the 2009 National Register Nomination Update, the Parks Farmstead (called the Cunningham Farm in the document) is listed, along with several other farms as contributing resources to the overall battlefield landscape. The nomination has inadequate documentation for many of the resources within the Parks Farmstead, including the cultural landscape. The Parks Farmstead cultural landscape is significant in two areas of history. Its foremost significance, in military history (1861-1865), results from its role in the Battle of Antietam during the American Civil War. The second, 1796-1861, is as a preserved agricultural landscape that has been continuously farmed since the late 18th century and has remained relatively unchanged. This CLI finds that the Parks Farmstead cultural landscape overall retains integrity to its periods of significance and is in fair condition. Four 19th-century structures remain; the main house, a log out kitchen, a hand-dug well and the barn. The agricultural field patterns remain almost the same as those that existed during the Civil War period, and are currently maintained through an agricultural special use permit program run by the National Park Service. The farm buildings and circulation patterns also continue to reflect their arrangement and use from the period of significance. While there have been changes to the property and the loss of some features over time, it still invokes the historic significance of the landscape through the integrity of all seven aspects.

Parks Farmstead: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Antietam National Battlefield, National Park Service

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