11. POSITIONS OF SHELBY AND SEVIER.

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.

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.

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.

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