Historic Open Spaces Survey Historic Main Post Cantonment Fort Benning, Georgia

Abstract 10104.

Project Name. Historic Open Spaces Survey, Historic Main Post Cantonment, Fort

Benning, Georgia.

Project Location and Environmental Setting. Fort Benning is located in Chattahoochee and Muscogee Counties, Georgia and Russell County, Alabama. Crossed by the Chattahoochee River and its tributary, Upatoi Creek, the reservation is approximately 182,000 acres (285 square miles) (Cultural Site Research and Management, Inc. [CSRM] 2007).

Purpose and Goals. Panamerican Consultants, Inc. (Panamerican) was contracted by Fort Benning to reassess their currently maintained historic open spaces list within the Historic Main Post Cantonment. These open spaces as delineated by Historic Building Survey, Fort Benning, Georgia (Fisher and Johnson 1987) are: Cuartels Parade Grounds, Stilwell Field, Russ Pond/Russ Pool , Riverside, Miller Loop, Sacrifice Field, Old Infantry School Headquarters, Golf Course, and Polo Fields. The goal of this reassessment is to determine whether the list needs to be further expanded; and if it is expanded, to justify this expansion.

Cultural Resources Work Completed. Background and documentary research, as well as field evaluation of areas and landscapes was completed. Background and historic research included a thorough review of existing cultural resource management documents of Fort Benning, historic photos, historic maps, Real Property records, and blueprints. In addition, some internet research was conducted for general historical background. Army specific contexts and guidance (Chattey et al. 1997, Loechl et al. 1994) related to landscape and general land-use related issues were also consulted. New photography of spaces was completed. Current and past open spaces, as they occurred on installation maps and in photographs, were compared and analyzed to determine persistence over time. Persistence over time was the key variable in determining whether a landscape was a historic open space.

Survey Results. Panamerican recommends the following should be listed and maintained as historic open spaces:

• Cuartel parade/exercise yards;

• Stilwell Field;

• Russ Park;

• Austin Loop Commons;

• Riverside Landscape;

• The Infantry School Building, Ridgeway Hall, Building 00035, Landscape including:

Field of Four Chaplains,

Sister Field to Four Chaplains,

DAR Memorial Field,

Building 00035 landscape, and

Triangular, unnamed, field to the west of the building;

• Honor Field at Richardson Circle;

• Rose Garden area with Chinese Gate;

• Glenn Field;

• Gordon Field, remaining portion;

• Miller Loop Commons;

• Old Hospital Grounds;

• Sacrifice Field;

• French Polo Field;

• Blue Polo Field;

• Green Field;

• Golf Course including:

Patton Course,

Bradley Course, and

Marshall Course;

• Building 00004, Maneuver Center of Excellence, former Infantry Hall, landscape including:

Ranger Field,

Alvin York Field, and

Parker Field;

• Olive Field;

• Stewart Field;

• Fort Benning Boulevard; and

• Fort Benning Cemetery

In addition, Panamerican recommends that the Tree Allee formed by the oak trees on the edges of Ranger and Olive Fields, covering Eckel Street, be maintained as a shared historic open space between these fields. It is also recommended that the Historic District Tree Management Plan (Hartel and Nethery 1995) be expanded to include the Tree Allee on Eckel Street, if the area has not yet been included. The Eckel Street Tree Allee should be treated as a cultural landscape resource.

Panamerican recommends that Fort Benning create Maintenance and Repair Plans and Treatment Plans for all NRHP eligible historic open spaces and those open spaces that are maintained as historic cultural landscapes. Panamerican also recommends that a monument survey be conducted on the installation. The survey which should also include Maintenance and Repair Plans and Treatment Plans should address the role that monuments play in open space at Fort Benning.

Panamerican recommends that Fort Benning undertake a Monument Survey that will lead to the creation of Maintenance and Repair Plans and Treatment Plans for monuments and plaques not under the immediate purview of the National Infantry Museum.