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The Journey Through Hallowed
Ground Partnership (JTHG) is a non-profit organization
dedicated to raising national awareness of the unparalleled
history in the region, which generally follows the Old
Carolina Road (Rt. 15/231) from Gettysburg, through
Maryland, to Monticello in Albemarle, VA. JOURNEY THROUGH
HALLOWED GROUND has built a strong network of local,
regional, and national partners to develop a common vision
for the conservation and enhancement of the scenic,
historic, recreational, cultural, and natural
characteristics of the region. JOURNEY THROUGH HALLOWED
GROUND has developed an education outreach program to all
students and teachers within the region and nationwide.
JOURNEY THROUGH HALLOWED
GROUND has also created a heritage tourism program that will
provide economic development opportunities through regional
branding and cooperative marketing in communities throughout
the corridor. The U.S. Secretary of Transportation, Ray
LaHood, has designated the 180-mile long thoroughfare
running through the Journey, from Gettysburg, PA to
Monticello, VA a National Scenic Byway which is one of the
highest designations the Secretary can bestow upon a public
road and one that could have a profound economic impact on
the local jurisdictions along the Journey Through Hallowed
Ground.
The JOURNEY THROUGH HALLOWED
GROUND Partnership seeks to commemorate the Sesquicentennial
of the Civil War with a legacy project of National
Significance. During the Civil War, approximately 620,000
American Soldiers died, many on the battlefields within the
JOURNEY THROUGH HALLOWED GROUND National Heritage Area which
the Journey Through Hallowed Ground Partnership proposes to
commemorate through a “Living Legacy” project which will
commemorate the individual and combined sacrifices of the
fallen. The JOURNEY THROUGH HALLOWED GROUND Living Legacy
project is to plant one tree for each citizen who sacrificed
their life to create this union, at a set pace along the
180-mile Rt.15/231 corridor which trees will appear as
soldiers in formation, from Monticello to Gettysburg. The
intention of this “eloquent and simple plan” is to create a
living legacy, a constant reminder to every citizen as they
drive this route, of the sacrifices made by fellow Americans
and will stand as a living legacy for our Countrymen who
gave “the last full measure” to define our Union.
This project further lends
itself to a national service learning program as students
from around the country may research the fallen from their
community, learn their stories, and dedicate a tree in their
honor. The JOURNEY THROUGH HALLOWED GROUND Partnership will
be working through negotiations and agreements with
individual landowners, thereby protecting individual
property rights along the corridor during this initiative |