Droop Mountain Battlefield State Park

Droop Mountain Battlefield State Park is a state park located on Droop Mountain in Pocahontas County, West Virginia. Droop Mountain was the site of the last major conflict of the American Civil War in West Virginia. A private in the U.S. Army at the Battle of Droop Mountain, John D. Sutton, became the leader in the movement to create the park when he served in the West Virginia House of Delegates. Dedicated on July 4, 1928, Droop Mountain Battlefield became the first state park in West Virginia.

The battlefield was transformed into a historical, outdoor recreation area by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression. Public reenactments of the battle are conducted in October of even-numbered years by the West Virginia Reenactors Association. The next reenactment is scheduled for October, 2010.

The park was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970.

Droop Mountain Battlefield State Park is located about 25 miles (40 km) north of the Lewisburg exit of I-64 on U.S. Highway 219 and about 15 miles (24 km) south of Marlinton on US 219. The park is also near Beartown State Park and Watoga State Park.

Read more about Droop Mountain Battlefield State Park:  Gallery, Features

Famous quotes containing the words droop, mountain, battlefield, state and/or park:

    And by another year,
    Such as God knows, with freer air,
    More fruits and fairer flowers
    Will bear,
    While I droop here.
    Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)

    ‘Tis distance lends enchantment to the view,
    And robes the mountain in its azure hue.
    Thomas Campbell (1777–1844)

    Fighting is like champagne. It goes to the heads of cowards as quickly as of heroes. Any fool can be brave on a battlefield when it’s be brave or else be killed.
    Margaret Mitchell (1900–1949)

    To the cry of “follow Mormons and prairie dogs and find good land,” Civil War veterans flocked into Nebraska, joining a vast stampede of unemployed workers, tenant farmers, and European immigrants.
    —For the State of Nebraska, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)

    Is a park any better than a coal mine? What’s a mountain got that a slag pile hasn’t? What would you rather have in your garden—an almond tree or an oil well?
    Jean Giraudoux (1882–1944)