Kennesaw Mountain Administrative History

Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park was authorized for protection by the War Department in 1917 and was transferred to the Department of the Interior as a unit of the National Park System in 1933. The 2,884 acre park includes the site of some of the heaviest fighting of the Atlanta campaign of the Civil War. The park was set aside as an important cultural property dedicated to public inspiration and interpretation of the significant historic events that occurred here.

The purpose of this study is to explain the conception and establishment of Kennesaw Mountain NBP and its management to the present. It includes an account of the park's management and use prior to NPS incorporation; a discussion of the events that led to its establishment as an NPS unit; a description of the major activities and events that have affected the area under NPS administration; and appendices containing copies of key park legislation, personnel rosters, visitation statistics, a selected chronology, and other documents and data valuable for management reference.

I would like to acknowledge Kirk Cordell, Chief, Cultural Resources Planning Division, Southeast Region, for giving me the opportunity to work on this project; Lenard Brown, Southeast Regional Historian, Ed Bearss, Chief Historian, and former superintendents Richard Boyer, Bernard Goodman, and Ralph Bullard for their assistance and valuable comments on the text; and Superintendent John Cissell and his staff at the park for their help and support.

Michael A. Capps