Over $1 million dollars has been raised through state and federal grants and other funding sources which has allowed the Calloway County Fiscal Court to purchase this historic Civil War site with the intent to give all of the property to the National Park Service. At the time, State Senator Bob Jackson and State Representative Buddy Buckingham were tremendous partners in helping to acquire this funding.
A large portion of Fort Heiman was purchased in September 2003 from the Jackson family from funds received through Transportation Enhancement Funds (federal funds awarded through the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet) and the Kentucky Heritage Land Conservation Fund Board. In 2004, Senator Bunning, Congressman Whitfield and Congressman Tanner of Tennessee helped pass SB 524 which authorized the National Park Service to expand the boundaries of Fort Donelson to include Fort Heiman.
Over the past three years, Calloway County Fiscal Court has purchased an additional 43 individual lots within the Fort Heiman Subdivision from 14 different landowners. It is now the intent of Calloway County Fiscal Court to give the land they have purchased to the National Park Service thus enabling a new National Park to be established in West Kentucky. Click here for map of proposed boundaries of Fort Heiman National Park.
A ceremony to transfer the property will be held October 30, 2006 at 1:00 pm CST at the site. Come join us as we celebrate this monumental moment in history.Click here for more information.
March 1, 2006
Over $1 million dollars has been raised through state and federal grants and other funding sources which has allowed the Calloway County Fiscal Court to purchase this historic Civil War site with the intent to give all of the property to the National Park Service. At the time, State Senator Bob Jackson and State Representative Buddy Buckingham were tremendous partners in helping to acquire this funding . . . (see above).
September 25, 2005
Thus far over $1 million dollars has been raised through state and federal grants and other funding sources which is allowing the Calloway County Fiscal Court to purchase this historic Civil War site with the intent to give all of the property to the National Park Service.
A large portion of Fort Heiman was purchased in September 2003 from funds received through Transportation Enhancement Funds (federal funds awarded through the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet) and the Kentucky Heritage Land Conservation Fund Board, State Senator Bob Jackson and State Representative Buddy Buckingham have been tremendous partners on acquiring this funding. Individual lots are now being purchased. Click on map below for larger view of proposed boundaries of Fort Heiman.
THE CHALLENGE:
The history of Fort Heiman and the "trilogy of forts" that controlled the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers is a story worth telling and had significant impact in the "war of the states". The 200-acre property was placed on the National Register in 1978 and yet was in danger of being lost to posterity through private development. The land had been subdivided into lots and many of the lots had been sold to private individuals.
It was the goal of many concerned citizens and Civil War historians and enthusiasts to help the Calloway County Fiscal Court acquire the property so that it could then be given to the National Park Service. The National Park Service could then interpret the site, and develop walking trails along the breastwork and within the fort area and eventually open a welcome center/museum in conjunction with Fort Donelson National Historic Site allowing future generations to understand the great significance transportation had in the selection of this site and how the outcome of the "war between the states" might have been different if Confederate officers had realized this as well.
THE SOLUTION:
Civil War enthusiasts, politicians, historians and interested citizens worked together over the past five years (and others have been working even longer) to save Fort Heiman. Over $600,000 was awarded to the Calloway County Fiscal Court through a TEA-21 grant, $75,000 from a Land & Water grant and the Kentucky Heritage Land Conservation Fund Board initially awarded the project $105,000 adding an additional $262,000 in 2005.
Most of these funds were used to purchase a large portion of the Fort Heiman property with the hopes that, once purchased, the land could then be given to the National Park Service through an expansion of the boundaries of Fort Donelson National Park.
In October 2004, SB 524 authorized the National Park Service to receive this gift.
