National Park Service Launches Civil War Website

Good news for Civil War buffs and national park visitors: as part of its commemoration of the Civil War Sesquicentennial and coinciding with events marking the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Shiloh, the National Park Service has launched a Civil War themed website at www.nps.gov/civilwar. The site provides an overview of the war, with special emphasis on the Civil War sites administered and preserved by the National Park Service.

The website features a wide range of content, including stories of the Civil War, ranging from causes of the conflict to its consequences; biographies of notable individuals associated with the war, both military and civilian; places within the National Park System that interpret the Civil War; and information on the ways in which the National Park Service preserves Civil War battlefields, objects, landscapes and other historic resources. New content will be added regularly, NPS reports.

“More than a quarter of all national parks preserve Civil War sites or tell stories related to the war. This website offers a single online point of reference for the National Park Service’s Civil War resources and will be an invaluable tool for both students of the Civil War and visitors to our historic sites,” said National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis. “It also gives the war and events that occurred a century and a half ago meaning to 21st-century Americans.”

Among other features of the new website are:

Plan Your Visit – An interactive trip planning tool includes more than 1,700 Civil War sites around the country, including more than 100 national parks with Civil War themes. Visitors can plan a trip to Civil War sites from northwest Washington state (San Juan Island National Historical Park) to the Florida Keys (Fort Jefferson,today part of Dry Tortugas National Park) and more than 1,700 partner sites in between, including state and privately administered Civil War-themed historic sites and museums.

The Plan Your Visit tool provides maps, distances, turn-by-turn directions, and a description of and links to additional information about each of the sites, NPS reports.

Visit www.nps.gov