West Virginia Civil War Trails Program Funded by the West Virginia Division of Tourism Supported by: WV Civil War Task Force WV Division of Culture and History WV Department of Education WV Development Office WV Department of Natural Resources Preservation Alliance of WV

About Civil War Trails:

Identifies, interprets and creates driving tours of great campaigns AND lesser-known Civil War sites. •

Multi-state program • Virginia • Maryland • Tennessee • North Carolina • West Virginia

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Over 70 sites now in West Virginia and 1100 sites Nationwide.

Program Statistics and Facts:

The Civil War Trails driving tour brochure is the most requested heritage tourism literature in Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee. Over 3,000 map guides are downloaded weekly from the Civil War Trails website The program is recognized by National Trust for Historic Preservation as ―on e of the most successful and sustainable heritage tourism programs in the nation.‖** The program has been recognized by the Federal Highway Administration for improving transportation experience by strengthening multi-modal systems and boosting local economies***

Why WV? Why Now?

2011 – 2015 is the 150th Commemoration of the American Civil War West Virginia was born of the Civil War (1863) Civil War Tourism is a major heritage tourism market Heritage Tourists spend an average 30% more while on vacation than traditional pleasure vacation travelers.* The Division of Tourism is offering to pay for the first 150 interpretive signs installed in WV!

West Virginia Division of Tourism

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Marketing: • • • • • •

Website listing and maps of sites will be on www.civilwartrails.org Program already has strong regional brand recognition and established following Driving Tour Map/Brochures available at Welcome Centers, CVB’s and may be downloaded online. Civil War Trails will become part of WV Tourism’s website and driving map will be printed for WV’s sites. www.wvtourism.com Program will be cross-promoted in brochures of other participating states. State-wide marketing plan in-place for use by communities and individual sites.

What your community or site will receive: •

Interpretive marker: (stands about waist-high or 40‖ tall, 2’ by 3’ display panel)

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Three logo trailblazer/directional signs per site: (placed roadside to guide visitors to the site) Interpretive Marker at the Trans Allegheny Asylum in Weston, West Virginia.

Program cost structure:

A Trailblazer sign stands outside a North Carolina Site:

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Purchase of interpretive markers (including pedestal), trailblazer signs, design and installation - $2,700 each – Paid by WV Division of Tourism.

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Annual maintenance and marketing fee: $200 per year/per interpretive marker…Assists Civil War Trails in marketing program, updating/designing annual brochures, website upkeep, replacement for updates, and insuring against damage/vandalism. This is to be paid annually by sign sponsor within community (usually a Chamber of Commerce, Economic Development Authority, or a Convention and Visitors Bureau)

West Virginia Division of Tourism

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To get started: • •

Utilize attached instructions and forms Call Justin Gaull at the WV Division of Tourism with questions. – 1(800) 225-5982. – [email protected]

References

*VTC; ―2003 V irginia Visitor Study‖ **NTHP; Share Your Heritage; Cultural Heritage Tourism Success Stories, 2001 ***FHWA; Enhancing America’s Communities, 2002

West Virginia Division of Tourism

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Getting Started Guide:

Step by Step Guide to putting together your Civil War Trails submission

1. Marker location sites should: Be as close to the actual location of the interpreted event as possible. Have adequate, safe parking already in place. A good rule of thumb is to have enough space for 3 cars or a motor coach. 2. Secure permission from the landowner to have the marker placed on his/her land. Use the attached Permission for Temporary Easement/Entry Agreement. 3. Provide a sketch or drawing of the marker location. The sketch should include the proposed sign location, the existing parking facility, the nearest road intersection including the names of the roads, and any buildings, grassy areas, etc. Hand-drawn sketches are acceptable. 4. The West Virginia Division of Tourism is providing up to 150 Civil War Trails historical markers statewide. Each historical marker includes: Development, design, fabrication, installation of each historical marker. Fabrication and installation of required (avg. 4 each) directional ―t railblazer‖ signs: (a) WV Department of Transportation will be responsible for choosing trailblazer sign locations on the highways. (b) Your site will be a participant in the decision to locate trailblazer signs in urban areas. Your site will work according to the sign ordinances of local town or county governments to determine sign locations. Inclusion on the West Virginia Civil War Trail statewide brochure. Each interpreted site will be promoted as part of the existing, multi-state Civil War Trails program, currently developed in Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina and Tennessee. 5. Secure funding for the $200/year maintenance/membership fee. You will be invoiced annually by the Civil War Trails program for this fee. The first payment of this fee will be due upon submission of the interpretive marker materials. The sponsoring group is responsible for the maintenance of the grounds around the sign and for letting the Civil War Trails program know of any repairs to the marker or trailblazers that might be needed over time. 6. Send the Permission for Temporary Easement/Entry Agreement, site sketch, draft interpretive marker text, images and graphics (see Civil War Trails marker guidelines), sponsor’s address for the annual maintenance fee to: Civil

War Trails, attn.: Mitch Bowman, 401 N. Third St., Richmond, VA 23219. (Ph. 804-783-7423).

Please address additional questions to Justin Gaull with the West Virginia Division of Tourism, 304-558-2956 ext. 385. 7. When sites are scheduled to be installed, contact Justin Gaull at the West Virginia Division of Tourism [email protected] for more information about planning a local dedication ceremony. West Virginia Division of Tourism

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Civil War Trails Marker Guidelines

Information needed to put together your Civil War Trails submission

Audience Assumptions: The typical Civil War Trails visitor is a tourist who knows little about the Civil War and nothing about what happened at any particular site. Tourists expect to read a story in clear, concise prose, and leave with an understanding of what happened at the site, what led up to it, what followed it, and what’s important about it. They will be bored by discussions of troop movements, regiments and corps, etc. They will be excited by the human angle, including historic photographs and short, relevant quotations. We want tourists to believe that their time at the site was well spent. Marker elements: Civil War Trails markers consist of the following elements: main text, images (historic photos and engravings preferred), and image captions (a very brief title or explanation and a credit for the institution providing the image). Depending on the topic, the marker may also display a map (usually to illustrate troop movements) and may include a sidebar (to elaborate on an interesting place, event, quote, or person mentioned briefly in the main text). All of these elements should work together—and with the landscape itself—to tell the story. For instance, if possible, leave most troop movements out of the main text and put them on the map instead. If the main text or sidebar describes the career of an individual, then all we need in the photo caption is his name (the text does the caption’s work). Avoid repetition. Text Length: 250–300 words total (including main text, illustration captions, and sidebar if any). We will edit to fit, but would prefer to work with text close to this length (not 500–600 words). Format: All text should be provided (main text, captions, sidebar) in one Word document per marker. Text can be emailed or provided on a CD or floppy disk. Site-specific text: Each marker text should say exactly what it is the tourist is supposed to be looking at or aware of. ―Gen. She rman’s headquarters was in the brick building on your right.‖ ―The North Carolinians charged across the field in front of you from left to right.‖ ―You re a standing where the 20th Maine Infantry stood that day.‖ ―Jackson’s corps marched down the road behind you to the trenches on your left front.‖ This should be said as close to the beginning of the text as possible. Context: Most battles were part of a campaign; something occurred that led up to what happened at the site. Likewise, most battles or other events had consequences: things happened as a result. Please give the relevant context to what happened at the site in a couple of sentences, as briefly stated as possible. Human interest: Tourists are interested in people and their stories. If someone who witnessed or participated in a battle or other event wrote a personal account, it may be worthwhile to quote a short excerpt. Please quote exactly, including spelling, punctuation, capitalization, etc. Maps: Please provide us with a sketch map showing the location of the marker, which way visitors will be facing at the marker site (just draw an arrow in the right direction), and any landmarks mentioned in the text (field, house, church, earthworks, crossroads, etc.). A hand-drawn map is fine; it’s just for the editor’s use—not for publication—in understanding the relationship between the text and the terrain, since it’s unlikely that we will visit the site before the marker is erected. Sometimes, however, we do include a map on the marker to explain troop movements, the relative position of landmarks, road networks, the locations of buildings mentioned in the text, etc. Usually, we’ll ask you to West Virginia Division of Tourism

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provide such a map if we think it will help tourists. With few exceptions, we will redraw any map you provide to conform to our style, so feel free to photocopy a map you think will be useful and draw whatever is needed on it (this goes for the sketch map, too). Please also indicate the exact spot where the marker will go, and draw an arrow to show in which direction visitors will be facing. We will reorient the map if needed to show that direction as ―u p‖ on the marker, regardless of which way is north. Images: Please provide 2 to 4 black-and-white or color images for each marker. If the images are copyrighted or if permission is required by the institution holding them, please get permission (use and publication fees may be required), and give us the necessary credit lines to use with the images. Historical photographs and engravings are preferred. Keep in mind, however, that by ―hi storical‖ we don’t mean that the image must date from the Civil War. An early-20th-century photo of a site may serve very well. Likewise, a good ―a rtist’s conception‖ of a battle or other scene, especially if it shows the scene from the visitor’s position, can be used. But do avoid modern photographs, especially those that show what the tourist can see for himself at the marker site. Image format: We prefer digital images, provided they are scanned at a high resolution: 300dpi at 8 x 10 inches. You may e-mail them or scan them onto a CD and mail it to us. Please provide scanned images in .tif or .jpg. We can also use high-quality 8 x 10 glossy prints from film negatives, and we will return prints if you want us to. Please do not take a low-resolution digital image and just blow it up to 8 x 10; we cannot use such images. If you have any questions, please ask. House style: We use the phrase Civil War. We use U.S., Union, Federal, Northern; C.S., Confederate, Southern (not Yankee or Rebel, unless quoted). Every general (lieutenant, major, brigadier, etc.) is a Gen. Review process: Please include the name, address, e-mail address, and phone number of the contact person with all materials. We will give you an opportunity to review the marker before it is manufactured. We may also ask experts in the field to review and comment on the marker text during the process. Complete marker package: Before we can proceed with design and production, we must have on hand a complete package of the elements to be included on the marker. They are: title, main text, sidebar if needed, captions and credits, images, sketch map for the editor’s use, and maps for the markers if needed. The absence of one or more elements will hold up design and production, so please be sure you provide them all.

West Virginia Division of Tourism

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Permission for Temporary Easement/Entry Agreement (Must be signed by land-owner)

Permission is hereby granted this___________ day of ____________, 200_, by: ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ to Virginia Civil War Trails, Inc and its contractors to enter upon that portion of my/our land to install a historical marker as part of the West Virginia Civil War Trails program. I/we understand that I/we will be contacted prior to said installation and that I/we will have the final authority as to the marker’s placement and location. I/we understand that the Virginia Civil War Trails, Inc. or its contractors will maintain the marker as long as it remains on my/our property, and that the marker will be removed at anytime in the future if so requested by me/us or my/our successors. ____________________ Landowner Signature

____________________ Witness Signature

____________________ Virginia Civil War Trails, Inc. Representative

____________________ Witness Signature

Send To:

West Virginia Division of Tourism

Virginia Civil War Trails, Inc. ATTN: Mitch Bowman 401 N. Third St. Richmond, VA 23219

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(invoice for program sponsor to complete and submit with payment)

WV Civil War Trails Program c/o Virginia Civil War Trails, Inc. FED ID: 54-1885764

Invoice for Annual Maintenance/Membership Fee Date:

____________________

Job Title:

WV CIVIL WAR TRAILS

Insert Name of site(s):

____________________________________

Insert Location of site(s):

___________________________________

Billed To:

(organization name, address, and contact person) __________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________

Total Amount Due:

$200 per sign for current fiscal year, FY’11 $ __________

Terms:

Payment in full before sign development begins

Make Check Payable: Virginia Civil War Trails, Inc. Remit Payment To:

West Virginia Division of Tourism

Virginia Civil War Trails, Inc. ATTN: Mitch Bowman 401 N. Third St. Richmond, VA 23219

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