Officials envision park to mark Civil War raid

Associated Press

CARROLLTON, Ohio

Officials hoping to boost tourism in an eastern Ohio county are seeking a U.S. National Park Service grant to help create a park commemorating a raid by Confederate Brigadier General John Hunt Morgan.

Carroll County officials envision creating a park and a recreation trail between two battle sites using what is now private property, in an area regarded as the northernmost battle between Confederate and Union troopers during the Civil War, The Repository in Canton reported.

To do that, officials hope for support from the park service’s American Battlefield Protection Program.

“We are looking at preserving those battlefields for like a park to visit, sort of like Gettysburg, but a lot smaller,” county economic development director Aaron Dodds told the newspaper. “This is something the National Park Service came to us on. They have a lot of grant and federal money to support it.”

Officials are in talks with the owners about acquiring the property, Dodds said. He said the idea is to put up placards, a statue and a cannon or two, and to create a trail along an abandoned road that was actually traveled back in 1863, when Morgan and his raiders moved through Indiana and across Ohio in an effort that diverted Union troops.

“Civil War battlefields, in general, are quite the tourist draw,” Dodds said. “We are hoping that if we can get these preserved, people will want to come visit them and spend money in Carroll County.”

Tim Dayton, a trustee in Fox Township where the park would be located, said he likes the vision for the park but isn’t sure it will become reality, given the property ownership issue and other hurdles.