As you move up the trail to the upper parking area, you pass through the
lines of Shelby and Sevier, coorganizers of the patriot march to Kings
Mountain. Along the way are points where they began their attacks which
were timed with the movements of Campbell’s men on the opposite slope of
the ridge.
_Establishment of the Park_
Kings Mountain National Military Park was established by act of Congress
on March 3, 1931. This was the climax of years of effort by individuals
and patriotic organizations to win national recognition for the area.
A series of dedicatory celebrations had previously focused public
attention upon it. The first of these celebrations, in 1815, was
primarily local in nature. It did, however, mark the date when the first
memorial stone was placed on the battlefield. This was in memory of
Major Chronicle and three other South Fork boys, who were buried in a
common grave. It was also the forerunner of the more elaborate
celebrations held in 1855, 1880, 1909, and 1930. Despite inadequate
means of travel and few access roads, they were all well attended.
The centennial observance of 1880 is of particular interest. To insure a
successful celebration, the Kings Mountain Centennial Association was
formed in 1879, composed largely of men from the towns of Kings Mountain
and York. These citizens sponsored the purchase of 40 acres of the
battleground and the erection of an appropriate monument. Generous
contributions were received from individuals and the State Legislatures
of North and South Carolina, resulting in the acquisition of most of the
battlefield ridge and the construction of the Centennial Monument.
Soon after the celebration, the Kings Mountain Centennial Association
was disbanded. Ownership of the battleground was transferred to the
Kings Mountain Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, with
headquarters in York, S. C. These patriotic ladies used their influence
to win the support of the Congress of the United States for the idea of
establishing a national historical shrine at the battleground. They were
encouraged also by increased public support for their project. When the
Congress appropriated $30,000 on June 16, 1906, for the erection of a
new monument, the reaching of their goal was not too far away. The
monument was completed in time for the celebration of 1909 and was
dedicated before dignitaries from Tennessee, Virginia, the Carolinas,
and Georgia. It is an 83-foot obelisk of white marble and stands as a
symbol of the recognition by the Federal Government of the significance
of the Battle of Kings Mountain.
[Illustration: _Marker at the grave of Maj. Patrick Ferguson. The
mound of stones follows a Scottish custom of placing rock cairns
over graves._]
TO THE MEMORY OF
COL. PATRICK FERGUSON
SEVENTEENTH REGIMENT,
HIGHLAND LIGHT INFANTRY.
BORN IN ABERDEENSHIRE
SCOTLAND IN 1744
KILLED OCTOBER 7, 1780
IN ACTION AT
KING’S MOUNTAIN
WHILE IN COMMAND OF
THE BRITISH TROOPS.
A SOLDIER OF MILITARY
DISTINCTION AND OF HONOR
THIS MEMORIAL
IS FROM THE CITIZENS OF
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
IN TOKEN OF THEIR APPRECIATION
OF THE BONDS OF FRIENDSHIP AND
PEACE BETWEEN THEM AND THE
CITIZENS OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE
ERECTED OCTOBER 7, 1930
The celebration of October 7, 1930, provided the final impetus to the
movement for the establishment of a national military park at Kings
Mountain. One year ahead of the celebration, President Hoover was
invited to be the guest of honor. His address at the celebration was
heard by an estimated 80,000 people and wide press coverage of the
speech brought nationwide attention to Kings Mountain. His presence also
gave the prestige of his office to the long-standing proposal that the
area was deserving of greater national recognition.
Although Kings Mountain National Military Park was finally established
151 years after the battle it commemorates, the Federal Government did
not at first own any of the land included in the park. In 1933,
responsibility for the development of the site was transferred by
Presidential executive order from the War Department to the National
Park Service of the Department of the Interior.
On September 24, 1935, the Kings Mountain chapter of the Daughters of
the American Revolution, located in York, S. C., donated the 40 acres of
the battleground to which the chapter held title. This was the nucleus
of the park, and additional lands acquired between 1936 and 1940 raised
the total holdings within the area to the present 4,012 acres.
_How to Reach the Park_
The park is best approached over North Carolina Route 216 from U. S. 29,
which is 4 miles to the north, and is equidistant from Charlotte, N. C.,
and Spartanburg, S. C. It is also accessible over South Carolina Route
161 from York, S. C.
_About Your Visit_
You may obtain further information about this and other areas of the
National Park System at the Administration and Museum Building near the
main parking area. With the exception of Christmas and New Year’s Day,
this building is open daily, with museum hours from 8:30 a. m. to 5 p.
m. on weekdays and from 9:30 a. m. to 6 p. m. on Sundays. Park personnel
is available at this building to assist individuals and organized groups
of visitors. To assure such assistance to large groups, it is advisable
that arrangements be made in advance with the superintendent of the
park.
A beautiful amphitheater is situated a short distance east of the
battlefield ridge, near the main park road. An outdoor historical drama
on the Battle of Kings Mountain has been presented here in late summer
during recent years. Adjoining the park on the east is Kings Mountain
State Park where you may picnic and swim in season.
[Illustration: _Museum and Administration Building, Kings Mountain
National Military Park._]
_Related Areas_
Three other areas administered by the National Park Service are related
to this park as a result of the sequence of events set in motion by the
Battle of Kings Mountain. They are Cowpens National Battlefield Site,
near Gaffney, S. C., Guilford Courthouse National Military Park, near
Greensboro, N. C., and Colonial National Historical Park, Yorktown, Va.
To the west, the Blue Ridge Parkway, also administered by the National
Park Service, runs through a part of the country which many of the
mountain men crossed en route to the engagement at Kings Mountain.
_Administration_
Kings Mountain National Military Park is administered by the National
Park Service of the United States Department of the Interior. A
superintendent, whose address is P. O. Box 31, Kings Mountain, N. C., is
in immediate charge.
_Suggested Readings_
Alden, John Richard, _American Revolution 1775-1783_, The New American
Nation Series, Harper and Brothers, New York, 1954.
Bailey, J. D., _Commander At Kings Mountain_, Gaffney, S. C., 1926.
Draper, Lyman C., _Kings Mountain And Its Heroes_, Peter G. Thomson,
Cincinnati, 1881; Dauber and Pine Bookshops, New York, 1929.
Ferguson, James, _Two Scottish Soldiers, “A Soldier of 1688 and
Blenheim, A Soldier Of The American Revolution,”_ D. Wyllie & Son,
Aberdeen, 1888.
George, J. N., _English Guns and Rifles_, Small Arms Technical
Publishing Company, Plantersville, S. C.
Scofield, John, “Patrick Ferguson’s Rifle,” _The American Rifleman_,
December, 1941.
Wallace, Willard M., _Appeal to Arms, “A Military History of the
American Revolution,”_ Harper & Brothers, New York, 1951.
★ U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1972 0—487-136
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
HISTORICAL HANDBOOK SERIES
(Price lists of National Park Service publications may be obtained
from the Superintendent of Documents,
Washington 25, D.C.)
Antietam
Bandelier
Chalmette
Chickamauga and Chattanooga Battlefields
Custer Battlefield
Custis-Lee Mansion, the Robert E. Lee Memorial
Fort Laramie
Fort McHenry
Fort Necessity
Fort Pulaski
Fort Raleigh
Fort Sumter
George Washington Birthplace
Gettysburg
Guilford Courthouse
Hopewell Village
Independence
Jamestown, Virginia
Kings Mountain
The Lincoln Museum and the House Where Lincoln Died
Manassas (Bull Run)
Montezuma Castle
Morristown, a Military Capital of the Revolution
Ocmulgee
Petersburg Battlefields
Saratoga
Scotts Bluff
Shiloh
Statue of Liberty
Vanderbilt Mansion
Vicksburg
Yorktown