Maps
of the late Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries
The
U.S.G.S. 1894 Petersburg sheet (USGS 1894) was revised in 1917 and printed
at a scale of 1 inch to 1 mile with 20 foot contour intervals (Figure
4.8). The outline of the
World War I Camp Lee covers the eastern portion of the modern park; the
junction of Jordan's Point and Prince George Courthouse roads at
Confederate Battery 9 in located below the "C" in Camp Lee.
The following details may be noted:
 |
The
"Friend" house is evidently shown in the wrong location,
since it actually stood on the bluff near the railroad above the
"A" in Camp Lee. |
|
The
Dunn house is not shown. |
|
The
lane/road that once formed the boundary between "White Hill"
and "Clermont" had evidently been relocated to the west,
extending from the "M" in Camp Lee northwest to the old City
Point Road. |
|
A
new road to City Point (modern Route 36) ran east of the Norfolk and
Western Railroad. |
|
A
structure is indicated at the former Taylor site (near the elevation
95), indicating the dairy farm that existed into the twentieth
century. |
|
"The
Crater" represents a major landscape feature, with an access road
extending from the old Jerusalem Plank (modern Crater) Road. |
A
series of highly-detailed topographic maps (1 inch to 200 feet, 2 foot
contour intervals) prepared by the NPS in 1935 provide an early record of
the condition of the park landscape and the impact of World War I
occupation by Camp Lee (Figure 4.9). The sheet entitled "Topography...Battery No. 5" by
G. G. Martin (NPS 1935a) was dated April 1935 and provides the following
details:
|
A
park road from Route 36 into Battery 5 passed the remains of the
Jordan house site with a cemetery to the east. References to a
"Concrete Foundation" at several locations suggests
continued occupation of the site by the park even though the house had
been destroyed in the Civil War. |
|
To
the south, other foundations and an "Old Building
Excavation" mark the former site of the Friend house that stood
into the early twentieth century. |
|
The
eighteenth-century lane/road between the two properties is delineated
within a topographic feature—a
ravine between two bluffs. The road trace is still clearly
visible between the park maintenance area and the visitor's center
parking lot. The lane divided below the bluff, with one branch
following the original course west toward the old City Point road
while the other ran parallel to the railroad past concrete loading
platforms. |
|
Another
roadway leads down the bluff south of the Friend site to the flood
plain below the bluff where a number of path/lane courses existed. |
|
An
electric street car line ran parallel to Route 36. |
The
sheet entitled "Topography" by O. A. Chalifoux (NPS 1935b) was
dated May 1935 (Figure 4.10) and illustrated the portion of the park north
of Confederate Battery 9, shown as "Confederate Earthworks."
The "Old Prince George Road" was probably the route of
the old Jordan's Point Road. The
abandoned railroad grade was that of the Civil War United States Military
Rail Road from the supply depot at City Point.
The impact of the World War I occupation by Camp Lee was evident in
the form of zig-zag trenches, dugouts, concrete and brick magazines, and
wagon roads.
The
sheet labelled "Topography" by O. A. Chalifoux and C. S.
Shelhouse (NPS 1935c) was dated May 1935 (Figure 4.11) and illustrated the
portion of the park along the south boundary; "Hickory Hill
Farm" is now incorporated into the park.
Specific details include the following:
|
The
"Civil War Fortifications" and "Civil War Trench"
were Confederate Battery 12 and associated rifle pit entrenchments
defending a nearby ravine. |
|
Confederate
Battery 13 currently stands on the former Hickory Hill Farm and was
partially indicated by contour lines. The "Federal
Breastworks" along the former park boundary may in fact be the
connecting works extending south to Confederate Battery 14, although
the alignment is different from that indicated on Civil War maps. |
|
The
extensive impact of the World War I occupation in the form of roadways
and underground sewers evidently reflecting encampment areas is well
illustrated. Some of the roadways have been incorporated into
modern park road and hiking trail system. |
|
One
World War I encampment area obliterated surface traces of Confederate
Battery 11 and encroached on the site of the Dunn house, which may be
indicated by two unexplained depressions along the northernmost camp
roadway. |
The
U.S.G.S. Prince George VA quad map (USGS 1946) was initially prepared in
1943, copied in 1946, and reprinted in 1949 (Figure 4.12).
The park was smaller than at present, stopping south and west of
Fort Stedman/Colquitt's Salient but also encompassing a separate parcel
around the Crater. The
following details may be noted:
|
The
road configuration reflects in essence the modern one, but with
interesting differences. |
|
The
northern portion of the park tour road—to the junction with the Prince George
Courthouse Road—had
been constructed. A loop in the tour road extended west around
Colquitt's Salient. |
|
A
complex of buildings east of Fort Stedman was Civilian Conservation
Corps (CCC) Camp No. 1364, which is the site of the modern park
auxiliary maintenance area (one of the CCC structures survives in the
area). |
|
The
park tour road—as an extension of Route 645, the old
City Point road—ran south out of the park past the
former Taylor farm and the Sussex Road to a junction with Route 460.
The modern tour road follows this course to a point adjacent to the
Taylor farm where it turns southwest to cross the railroad. |
|
The
sites of twentieth-century? houses along Route 633 lie within the
current park boundaries. |
An
NPS map collection to illustrate "The Master Plan" of 1942 (NPS
1941) was prepared in September 1941 to a scale 1 inch to 200 feet.
Three sheets from this collection were found in the park map
collection during the research for this study: No. 5, the Eastern Part of
Dimmock line and Vicinity; No. 6, Fort Stedman Vicinity—Utility Group; No. 7, The Crater—Colquitt's Salient and Fort Morton
Area.
|
Sheet
No. 6 provides considerable detail relating to the Gibbons house site.
The existing boxwood nursery with a curved entrance road from the
Prince George Courthouse Road/park tour road. The nursery and
"spring" lie east of the Gibbons site (Figure 4.13). |
|
A
portion of the Friend trail from Prince George Courthouse Road east to
the park road was noted as an abandoned "World War"
sand-gravel road. |
|
A
note on Sheet No. 6: "Earthworks C in addition to the earthworks here shown, there are numerous remains
along Harrison Creek and elsewhere C not shown on war maps." Field survey confirmed the accuracy
of this statement. |
|
A
"covered way" extends from the junction of Encampment and
Birney trails west to near the main Union siege lines between Battery
XII and Fort Haskell (Figure 4.14). The trench is not shown on
the Michler map but is still visible today. |
|
Earthworks
running northwest towards Fort Stedman are shown on Sheet No. 7
between the "covered way" and the Union siege line on
property that was privately owned in 1941 (Figure 4.14). These
earthworks are also not shown on the Michler map but are presently
visible in the field. |
|
Much
of the area behind the Union siege lines across Harrison Creek to the
Dimmock line and south of Prince George Courthouse Road was not in the
park in 1941. |
|
Colquitt's
Salient tour road was to be abandoned after 1941. |
|
A
portion of Union Battery XVI and a zig-zag trench was shown south of
the Fort Morton site and the historic Sussex Road and north of the
park boundary (Figure 4.15). |
|
The
park tour road was proposed to the east (rear) of the Fort Morton
site; it currently lies between the Fort Morton and Taylor sites.
Numerous structures were shown standing on the Taylor site, associated
with the early twentieth-century farm. (These buildings were all
removed during the 1940s and 1950s, leaving only the brick foundation
of the Taylor kitchen/quarters (Figure 4.15). |
|
A
parking area with associated structures lay south of the Crater.
The park administration building stood north of the Massachusetts
monument along South Crater Road. |
The
modern landscape is documented in a general sense on the current USGS
maps: the Prince George (USGS 1981) and Petersburg (USGS 1987) quad
sheets. The park entrance off
of Route 36 leads to the visitors center and parking area at the site of
the Jordan house. The Jordan
family cemetery lies in the woods east of the parking area.
The remains or sites of Confederate Dimmock batteries 4, 5, and 6
are located near the visitors center.
Battery 7 is enclosed by the exit ramp loop from the eastbound
lanes of Route 36. A park
maintenance facility stands near the site of the Friend house.
The area lies on a relatively flat plateau above the 100 foot
contour, providing a commanding view of the Appomattox River and ideal
locations for both eighteenth-century plantation manors and
nineteenth-century fortifications. An
east-west ravine between the maintenance area and visitors center also
reflects the trace of the roadway that delineated a boundary between
"Clermont" and "White Hill" in the eighteenth century.
The
modern park tour road runs south of Route 36, following the Dimmock line
past Battery 8 (renamed Fort Friend by Union forces) to Battery 9.
Extensive evidence of World War I training trenches from Camp Lee
are visible east of the tour road and south of Route 36.
The earlier tour road extended south, following the Dimmock line
past the Dunn house site to Route 109 (Hickory Hill Road), the modern park
boundary. This road trace is
used as a hiking trail. The
modern tour road turns westward at the site of Battery 9, following the
historic Prince George Court House Road across Harrison Creek.
The road passes the Gibbons house site and CCC camp No. 1364, the
latter currently occupied by a park maintenance area.
(A CCC structure remains standing in the area.)
Various road traces, at least one of World War I vintage, and a
concrete foundation lie north of the tour road and west of Harrison Creek.
The
Prince George Court House Road turned north toward the Appomattox River; a
trace of this road extends northward past the Hare house site to the park
boundary. The modern tour
road turns south near Fort Stedman to follow the main Union siege line.
The earlier loop around the Confederate Colquitt's Salient has been
abandoned, but remains visible on the surface.
The tour road runs southward past numerous Union forts and
batteries, eventually crossing the historic railroad trace (the modern
Norfolk and Western railroad) near the Taylor house site.
This westward orientation of the tour road parallels the historic
Sussex Road trace, which is visible along the southern boundary of the
park.
A
loop in the tour road forms the parking lot for the Crater at the site of
Elliott's Salient in the Confederate lines.
The tour road continues westward to the western park boundary at
Crater Road near the Griffith house site.
This last portion of the tour road overlies the historic Sussex
Road trace. |
