Kettle Creek awarded Preserve America grant for battlefield site study

First Lady Laura Bush and Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne (r) present Washington Mayor Willie E. Burns with the Preserve America grant to begin the archaeological exploration of Kettle Creek.

The Kettle Creek Battleground in Wilkes County has received a Preserve America grant for the first-ever archaeological study of the Revolutionary War site.

Last week Mrs. Laura Bush, First Lady of the United States and Honorary Chair of Preserve America, announced the first 43 Preserve America Grants for 2007 totaling nearly $2.6 million and acknowledged 20 new Preserve America communities.

Washington Mayor W.E. Burns accepted the presentation from the First Lady and Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne on behalf of the City of Washington and Wilkes County.

"This is a wonderful example of the benefits of cooperation," Burns said. "We have a unique national resource in the stewardship of Wilkes County and we have been able to acquire preservation funds through the City of Washington. This cooperation will benefit everyone."

The Preserve America funds will be used to conduct archeological studies of the Kettle Creek Battleground that can be used to locate interpretive signs, walking trails, and scripts for re-enactments during the Kettle Creek annual celebration. Archeological studies will begin this summer with assistance from the American Council on Historic Preservation and are expected to be completed by the end of the year.

The Wilkes County project was the only Georgia project, and projects in only 25 states across the U.S. received Preserve America Grant funds. The grants provide funds on a matching basis to assist Preserve America Communities with marketing, planning, and educational efforts associated with protection and appropriate use of community heritage assets.

In accepting the grant, Mayor Burns said, "I want to express a heartfelt thanks to the Washington- Wilkes Historical Foundation for their financial contribution to the project, Fort Gordon for their technical support, and the Sons of the American Revolution for their spiritual support. We have been pursuing funding for quite some time and it was with these partners that we have finally seen success."

Mayor Burns says he looks forward to presenting the results of the study at the 2008 celebration of the Battle of Kettle Creek in February. Says Burns, "We are on our way to fully utilizing our national resource."

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