Park Planning

 

Guilford Courthouse National Military Park (NMP) Foundation Document

This foundational document overview discusses Guilford Courthouse National Military Park's purpose, significance, fundamental resources and values, and interpretive themes.

• Guilford Courthouse NMP Foundation Document Overview [4.01 MB]

 

Current and Ongoing Plans

Development Concept Plan

Due to recent changes at the Park and the acquisition of new parts of the battlefield, the NPS has initiated planning efforts to help guide how the Park will develop, rehabilitate, and address visitor, community, and Park needs and issues. Recently, the Park has acquired the Hoskins Farm site. This site is historically and culturally significant to the story of the battle as it marks the location where Cornwallis deployed his troops into battle lines, thus commencing the attack on American forces. This new section of the Park includes historic structures and aims to help visitors better understand the battle, as well as the historic context of life in the Carolinas at the time of the battle. The Park intends to seamlessly incorporate this land into the overall Park experience, which currently includes a 2.25-mile self-guided automobile tour, monuments, interpretation elements, and nearly 4 miles of foot trails.

This planning process includes preparing a DCP and an Environmental Assessment that will analyze all potential impacts in the plan, consistent with requirements outlined in the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

 

Completed Projects

Trail Rehabilitation Project

Through the Recreation Fee Program, Guilford Courthouse NMP received nearly $2 million to repave and improve the accessibility of the trail system. By replacing asphalt and leveling trails in key visitor areas, the project ensured safe and accessible recreation opportunities at the park while also bringing visitors closer to the battlefield. This project constituted the largest investment at the park since the nation’s bicentennial celebration in 1976. The project ran from March - October 2024. Major accomplishments included the paving of a section of historic New Garden to improve the accessibility of the Nathanael Greene Monument and the repaving of trails around the Visitor Center.

Coble Barn Restoration

The National Park Service secured funding to restore the Coble Barn, located at the Hoskins Farmstead. Project staff and interns from the National Park Service’s Historic Preservation Training Center (HPTC) used original, historic building techniques and traditional tools to hew logs, cut notches, and replace chinking and daubing and install a new cedar shake roof. The barn was previously in poor condition, with significant and extensive repairs required to address weathering-related deterioration of the log walls. HPTC staff replaced existing logs with new replica materials as well as repair of salvageable original materials. Originally relocated to the Hoskins Farmstead by the Guilford Battleground Company in 1985, the Coble Barn provides visitors with a glimpse of Piedmont North Carolina architecture at the nation’s founding. The restoration project concluded in February 2025.