National Park Service History Electronic Library & Archive

NINTEY SIX NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE, South Carolina

The NPS History Electronic Library & Archive is a portal to electronic publications covering the history of the National Park Service (NPS) and the cultural and natural history of the national parks, monuments, and historic sites of the (U.S.) National Park System. Also included are documents for national monuments managed by other federal agencies, along with a collection of U.S. Forest Service publications.

The information contained in this Website is historical in scope and is not meant as an aid for travel planning; please refer to the official NATIONAL PARK SERVICE Website for current/additional information. While we are not affiliated with the National Park Service, we gratefully acknowledge the contributions by park employees and advocates, which has enabled us to create this free digital repository.

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National Park Ranger
An American Icon
(Charles R. "Butch" Farabee, Jr., 2003)

The History of the Star Spangled Banner from 1814 to the Present (George J. Svejda, February 28, 1969)

Homestead National Monument: Its Establishment and Administration (Ray H. Mattison, reprinted from Nebraska History, Vol. 43 No. 1, March 1962; ©History Nebraska)

Homestead National Monument of America (H.C. Luckey, extract from Nebraska History Magazine, Vol. 16 No. 1, January-March 1935; ©History Nebraska)

How the West Was Settled (Greg Bradsher, extract from Prologue, Vol. 44 No. 4, Winter 2012)

Historic Structures Report: Bowman-Hite Farmhouse (Michael Spencer, October 2013)

Historic Structures Report: Bowman-Hite Farmhouse — Part II (Quinn Evans Architects, June 2015)

Cultural Landscape Report: Freedom Riders National Monument (Laura L. Knott, May 2023)

Naming Bear Lodge: Ethnotoponymy and the Devils Tower National Monument, Wyoming (David R.M. White, 1998)

The Peoples of John Day: An Ethnographic and Ethnohistoric Overview of John Day Fossil Beds National Monument (Douglas Deur, Rochelle Bloom, Katie Wynia, Tricia Gates Brown, and the Traditionally Associated Tribes of John Day Fossil Beds, 2023)

Physical History and Condition Assessment: Antietam National Cemetery Lodge (architrave p.c. architects, March 5, 2003)

Historic Structure Report/Architectural Data Section: Old State House Boston National Historical Park — Volume I - Physical History Draft (The Society of the Preservation of New England Antiquities, June 1988)

Historic Structure Report/Architectural Data Section: Old State House Boston National Historical Park — Volume II - Systems Analysis Draft (John B. Marsh and Morgan Phillips, June 1988)

Cultural Landscape Report and Environmental Assessment: Sand Point/Munising UCSG Life Saving Station, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore (October 2017)

Historic Structure Report: Sand Point/Munising UCSG Life Saving Station, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore (October 2017)

Historic Structure Report: Flank Slaven's Roadhouse, Coal Creek, Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve, Alaska (Steven N. Peterson and Linda A. Cook, March 1990)

Historic Structure Report Update: Slaven's Roadhouse, Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve, Alaska (Hennebery Eddy Architects, April 2022)

Kennecott Mines National Historic Landmark Management Strategy Draft (July 2024)

Cattle, Copper, and Cactus: The History of Saguaro National Monument, Arizona — Historic Resource Study (A. Berele Clemensen, January 1987)

Cultural Landscape Report: Scorpion Ranch and Smugglers Olive Orchard, Channel Islands National Park (Sang Bae, Susan Dolan, Vida Germano, Rich Freitas, Genna Mason and Keith W. Park, September 2021)

B Reactor (105-B Building) HAER No. WA-164 (B Reactor Museum Association, December 2000)

Plants, Tribal Traditions, and the Mountain: Practices and Effects of Nisqually Tribal Plant Gathering at Mount Rainier National Park (Greg Burtchard, David Hooper and Arnie Peterson, 2024)

The Short, Spectacular Life of Paradise Golf Course, Mount Rainier, Washington (Martin Pool, November 2016, rev. July 2023)

The Tioga Road: A History 1883-1961 (Keith Trexler, 1980)

Newspapers: Devils Tower (2024) • Wind Cave (2024) • Guadalupe Mountains/Carlsbad Caverns (Fall-Winter 1998-1999) • Grand Portage: (2022, 2024) • Lake Mead (Spring/Summer 2001) • Canyon de Chelly (Date Unknown) • Dinosaur (1999-2000) • Glen Canyon (1999) • Big South Fork (1999) • Black Canyon of the Gunnison/Curecanti (2003) • Buffalo (2012-2013) • Walnut Canyon/Sunset Crater Volcano/Wupatki: (1998-1999, 2000-2001) • Timpanogos Cave (2023) • Cape Hatteras/Fort Raleigh/Wright Brothers (2024) • Fossil Butte (Date Unknown) • Theodore Roosevelt (1991) • Klondike Gold Rush (2002) • Independence (March 2013) • Grand Canyon: (October 1998 - March 11, 1999, March 11 - May 25, 2001, Sept. 7 - Nov. 30, 2004 • Capitol Reef (1999) • Indiana Dunes (Summer 1993) • Mammoth Cave: (Oct. 24, 1994-March 17, 1995, 1995, 1996, 1999, 2000 (Vol. 6 No. 1), 2000 (Vol. 6 No. 2)) • Gateway Arch (Winter 1999) • Mount Rainier (September 4 - December 31, 2007) • Great Smoky Mountains: (Spring 1992, Summer 1995, Fall 1996, Fall 1997, Fall 2005)

The Grand Portage Guide: 2003 • 2004 • 2018

History & Hope for Climate Action: An Interpretive Toolkit (Donna Graves and Elizabeth Villano, 2024)

Effects of Climate Change and Atmospheric Nitrogen Deposition on Forest Understory Vegetation Communities in Selected U.S. National Parks NPS Science Repport NPS/SR-2024/169 (Todd C. McDonnell, Brian Knees, Michael D. Bell and Emmmi Felker-Quinn, August 2024)

Deeply Rooted: Trees at the Foundation of America's Environmental History UERLA History Report (Abby Murphy, 2023)

Using i-Tree Canopy to Asses Tree Canopy Cover and Ecosystem Services of Three Urban Forests Within the George Washington Memorial Parkway (Eric Wiseman, Agustin Chambard, Paul Kelsch and Nathan Heavers, August 5, 2023)

Summertime Ozone Production at Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico: Influence of Oil and Natural Gas Development (Andrey Marsavin, Da Pan, Ilana B. Pollack, Yong Zhou, Amy P. Sullivan, Lillian E. Naimie, Katherine B. Benedict, Julieta F. Juncosa Calahoranno, Emily V. Fischer, Anthony J. Prenni, Bret A. Schichtel, Barkley C. Sive and Jeffrey L. Collett Jr., extract from Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, Vol. 129, 2024)

Restoration of the Tall Grass Prairie at Homestead National Monument, Beatrice, Nebraska (David E. Hutchinson, extract from Rangelands, Vol. 14 No. 3, June 1992)

Mammoth Cave National Park's 10th Research Symposium: Celebrating Diversity of Research in the Mammoth Cave Region (Shannon Trimboli ,ed., 2013)

Carmel Formation of The Zion Park Region Southwestern Utah—a Review U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1244-J (W.B. Cashion, 1967)

Checklist of the Vascular Plants of Glacier National Park Montana, U.S.A. Montana Academy of Sciences Monograph No. 4 (Peter Lesica, Volume 44, 1985)

Deglaciation and postglacial environmental changes in the Teton Mountain Range recorded at Jenny Lake, Grand Teton National Park, WY (Darren J. Larsen, Matthew S. Finkenbinder, Mark B. Abbott and Adam R. Ofstun, extract from Quaternary Science Reviews, Vol. 138, 2016, ©Elsevier Ltd.)

Natural Resource Condition Assessment, War in the Pacific National Historical Park NPS Science Report NPS/SR-2024/150 (Terry J. Donaldson, Maria Kottermair and Taryn N. Mesa, July 2024)

Geologic Resources Inventory Report, San Antonio Missions National Historical Park NPS Science Report NPS/SR-2024/146 (Matthew Harrington, June 2024)

Geologic Resources Inventory Report, American Memorial Park NPS Science Report NPS/SR-2024/147 (Trist L. Thornberry-Ehrlich, June 2024)

Geologic Resources Inventory Report, Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site NPS Science Report NPS/SR-2024/163 (Katie KellerLyn, August 2024)

Geologic Resources Inventory Report, Roosevelt-Vanderbilt National Historic Sites NPS Science Report NPS/SR-2024/171 (Tim C. Henderson, August 2024)

Geologist Willis T. Lee's 1925 Visit to the Mammoth Cave Region of Kentucky (Bob Thompson, extract from The Journal of Spelean History, Vol. 38 No. 2 Issue 126, July-December 2004)

Caribou Trails: News from the Western Arctic Caribou Herd Working Group (Issue 24, Summer 2024)

Natural Resource Condition Assessment, George Washington Memorial Parkway (2024 Revision) NPS Science Report NPS/SR-2024/175 (Brianne M. Walsh, Simon D. Costanzo, William C. Dennison, Mark Lehman, Megan Nortrup, Brent Steury and Simone Monteleone, August 2024)

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

1849-2024

Indivisibly One
Conservation Yearbook No. 8
(1971)

National Park Service Deferred Maintenance: Overview and Issues Congressional Research Service R48136 (Laura B. Comay, July 25, 2024)

National Park Service: FY2025 Appropriations (Congressional Research Service In Focus, July 23, 2024)

2023 National Park Visitor Spending Effects: Economic Contributions to Local Communities, States, and the Nation NPS Science Report NPS/SR-2024/174 (Matthew Flyr and Lynne Koontz, August 2024)

National Park Service Electric Vehicle Transition (February 2023)

Foundation Document, Gateway Arch National Park, Missouri (October 2023)

Fort Ontario Special Resource Study, New York (2024)

Kentucky Wildlands National Heritage Area Feasibility Study (December 2023)

Fire Management Plan Environmental Assessment, Alaska Region Coastal Park Units (June 2024)

Blackwell School National Historic Site: Foundation Document Newsletter / Documentos Fundacionales Boletín (June 2024)

Foothills Parkway Section 8D Environmental Assessment (July 2024)

General Management Plan / Development Concept Plan, Shenandoah National Park, Virginia (January 1983)

Summary of the General Management Plan / Development Concept Plan, Shenandoah National Park, Virginia (January 1983)

General Management Plan Environmental Assessment, Shenandoah National Park, Virginia (June 1981)

Draft General Management Plan / Development Concept Plans / Environmental Impact Station, Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona (September 1991)

Visitor Access Management Draft Plan and Environmental Assessment, Yosemite National Park (August 2024)

Cultural Resource Overview of the Malheur, Umatilla, and Wallow-Whitman National Forests, Northeast Oregon/Southeast Washington — Vol. I Cultural Resource Management Reports No. 1 (Lorelea Hudson, Gary G. Ayers, George F. Gauzza and Joseph Randolph, October 2, 1978)

Gifford Pinchot National Forest: Early History (Date Unknown)

Paths More Traveled: Predicting Future Recreation Pressures on America's National Forests and Grasslands FS-1034 (Donald B.K. English, Pam Froemke and Kathleen Hawkos, June 2015)

Point Iroquois Light Station (brochure) (Date Unknown)

NPS Reflections

(Harpers Ferry Center)

NINETY SIX NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE

". . .We have been prosecuting the Seige [sic] at this place with all possible diligence with our little force . . ., and our poor Fellows are worne out with fatigue. . . . The [British] Works are strong and extensive. The position [is] difficult to approach and the Ground extremely hard." So wrote Maj. Gen. Nathanael Greene on June 9, 1781, in his report to the president of the Continental Congress with regards to the siege of the British fortifications at Ninety Six, South Carolina. Almost two hundred years later the United States Congress would establish a national historic site not only to commemorate this ill-fated siege but the colonial and early settlement history of a backcountry village known as Ninety Six.

Prior to the English settlement of South Carolina, the area known as Ninety Six was used by Native American tribes particulary the Saludas, the Waterees, and Cherokees for hunting and fishing. The name Ninety Six originated from its distance to Keowee, a Cherokee town farther along the Cherokee Path. Increased trading with Native Americans in the early to mid-1700s opened the backcountry to settlers. One such settler was Robert Gouedy, who purchased property at Ninety Six in 1751 and opened a a trading post servicing settlers and Indian traders.

Hostilities between the British and French in the 1750s filtered down to the backcountry of South Carolina in the form of attacks by Cherokees on the English settlers. Gouedy's barn was enveloped by a small fort in 1759 in response to the threatening situation. It became known as Fort Ninety Six.

In 1760, Fort Ninety Six was attacked twice by the Cherokees but did not fall. With the capture of Fort Loudoun on August 7, 1760, Fort Ninety Six's importance as a supply station to the backcountry increased considerably. In 1762, a treaty with the Cherokees brought peace to Ninety Six, and with peace the lands reopened to new settlers.

The citizens of Ninety Six built a village about 500 yards north of Fort Ninety Six. After its designation as one of seven new judicial districts in 1769, a courthouse and jail were added to the prospering village in 1772. The populous of the backcountry differed from their coastal counterparts economically and politically. With the outbreak of war in 1775, many residents in and around Ninety Six remained loyal to the crown in opposition to their coastal neighbors, while others were indecisive and wavered from one side to the other. The American Revolutionary War was truly a civil war in South Carolina pitting neighbor against neighbor and brother against brother. Over the next six years the British would attempt to take advantage of this partisan atmosphere in their quest for control over the southern colonies. The burgeoning village would be pulled into the conflict repeatedly over the next six years.

The first act of partisan warfare in South Carolina involved Ninety Six in July of 1775. Fearing the backcountry Loyalists might use the arms and ammunitions stored at Fort Charlotte against their Patriot neighbors, Whigs ordered MaJ. James Mayson to remove the military supplies from Fort Charlotte to Ninety Six. Betrayed by his assistant, the ammunition was recaptured and Mayson was arrested by the local militia. Mayson was held in the Ninety Six jail but was soon released on bail. Four months later, the first land battle of the American Revolution in South Carolina would be fought at Ninety Six.

In November, the Cunningham brothers (Loyalists) captured gunpowder on its way to Cherokees inciting more hostility between Patriots and Loyalists. A stockaded fort under the command of Andrew Williamson (Patriot) was built a short distance from Ninety Six. On November 19, three hours after being completed, the fort was surrounded by Loyalists under Patrick Cunningham. The battle lasted until November 21, when a truce was declared with both sides parting company. James Birmingham was killed in this battle becoming the first South Carolina Patriot to die for America's independence. Loyalist opposition subsided over the next four years but was revived with the British Southern Campaign in 1780. Ninety Six's strategic location in the backcountry made it a focal point for British operations. Patriots found themselves prisoners of war on parole with Loyalists in control.

(National Park Service photo)

In 1780, the Continental forces in the South were put under the command of General Nathanael Greene. Victories at Kings Mountain and Cowpens diminished the British position in South Carolina. By the spring of 1781, Lord Charles Cornwallis was in North Carolina on his way to Virginia leaving South Carolina with a greatly reduced British force. Greene took advantage of the situation by attacking the British outposts, finally reaching Ninety Six on May 22, 1781, with 981 men. The British forces fortified the village with a palisade enclosure and a star redoubt northeast of the village. The Continental army's siegeworks were engineered by Thaddeus Kosciuszko over the next four weeks drawing ever closer to the British position, ironically held by Loyalists under Col. Harris Cruger, an American. News of approaching British Troops forced the Continentals to attack the star redoubt on June 18. Unable to capture the redoubt, Greene's army suffered heavy losses and was forced to retreat.

The British forces evacuated Ninety Six one month later, burning the village as they departed. A new village was built a quarter of a mile from the ruins of its predecessor. In 1787, the new village of Ninety Six became known as Cambridge after the school erected in the town in 1785. By i860 Cambridge had lost its position as a judicial district. Even its stagecoach and railroad services were moved to a new town two miles to the north known as Ninety Six. Although the once prosperous village of "Old" Ninety Six ceased to exist, its history was still remembered by local inhabitants. In Benson Lossing's The Pictorial Field-Book of the Revolution, James M. McCracken was noted as observing that "The trees and shrubbery on the battleground are considered by the inhabitants too sacred to be molested." (Vol. 2, p. 485). Reverence for the battleground would be held by coming generations resulting in the establishment of a national historic site at this backcountry settlement.

Oh August 19, 1976, Public Law 94-393 authorized the establishment of Ninety Six National Historic Site "in order to preserve and commemorate for the benefit and enjoyment of present and future generations an area of unique historical significance associated with the settlement and development of of the English Colonies in America and with the southern campaign of the American Revolutionary War, including the Star Fort . . . ." The passage of this act ended a fifty-year debate on the national significance of a site whose role in the American Revolution overshadowed its equal and possibly greater importance in the development of South Carolina as an English colony. The Star Fort Historical Commission (SFHC) of South Carolina which was created in 1963 was the primary force behind the park's establishment. This administrative history addresses the commitment of the dedicated group which recognized the integrity of an isolated and neglected historical landmark and strove to have it designated a national historic site. Although it is one of the lesser-known areas in the National Park System, the cultural resources of Ninety Six are impressive and include 18th century military features and arcbeological remains which make this site worthy to be acknowledged for its place in American history.

Text from The Administrative History of Ninety Six National Historic Site, Karen G. Rehm, March 5, 1988

(William A. Bake photo)

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