The park brochure is available in a number of different formats, including audio-description and text-only.
To access an audio-described version of the park brochure, you can either download the 39 files available here, or you can download the UniDescription app "UniD" and find the audio-description for the Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail available there.The files are listed in order, and labeled with what information each contains.
A text-only description of the park brochure is also available here.
Feel free to contact us with any questions or for more information.
OVERVIEW: Section 1 of 17: About this audio-described brochure.
OVERVIEW: Section 1 of 17: About this audio-described brochure.
Welcome to the audio-described version of the Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail's official print brochure. Through text and audio descriptions of photos, illustrations, and maps, this version interprets the two-sided color brochure that visitors receive when visiting the Overmountain Victory Trail. The brochure explores the history of the trail, some of its highlights, and information for planning how to visit and explore the trail. This audio version lasts about 85 minutes which we have divided into seventeen sections, as a way to improve the listening experience. Sections 1 through 9 cover the front of the brochure and include information regarding the introduction to the brochure, an overview of the American Revolution and its move to the southern colonies, information about some of the leaders on both the Patriot and British sides and descriptions of some of their portraits, and ways and places to explore the trail today with descriptions of photographs of several locations. Sections 10 through 17 cover the back of the brochure which consists of a day-by-day account of the Patriots marching the trail, a map of where the trail stretches across South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia and what towns, cities, and parks the trail follows through.
Date created:
10/14/2020
OVERVIEW: Section 2 of 17: Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail.
OVERVIEW: Section 2 of 17: Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail.
The Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail is a part of the National Park Service and is located in Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, and South Carolina. It begins in two locations, a western head in Abingdon, Virginia, and an eastern head in Elkin, North Carolina. These trails merge in Morganton, North Carolina, and terminate at Kings Mountain National Military Park in Blacksburg, South Carolina. The Overmountain Victory Trail is actually two trails: the historic trail corridor and the 330-mile commemorative driving route which follows the historic trail as closely as possible. Portions of the trail are available for hiking, with the eventual goal of being able to hike the entire route. This trail, established in 1980, was the first National Historic Trail in the eastern half of the United States, and was created to help mark the two hundredth anniversary of the march to the battle of Kings Mountain in 1780. We invite you to explore the natural beauty that can be found along the trail; hear the rush of the rivers and trickle of creeks that the trail follows, feel the breeze and temperature drop as you climb the Blue Ridge Mountains, and engage with the sense of place knowing that you are traveling the same route the Patriot soldiers used on their daring mission hundreds of years before. For those seeking to learn more about the trail, stop at one of the parks with visitor centers and rangers along the way. To find out more about what resources might be available or to contact the parks directly, visit the "Accessibility and More Information" sections numbered 16 and 17 at the end of this audio-described brochure.
Date created:
10/14/2020
OVERVIEW: Section 3 of 17: Front side of brochure.
OVERVIEW: Section 3 of 17: Front side of brochure.
The front side of this brochure is topped with a wide black National Park Service border and the title "Overmountain Victory." Below the border, the top one fourth of the page is a large painting of a gathering of Patriot soldiers about to embark on their journey down the trail, described in section 4. The page below is divided into three sections of text providing information about the trail in the past and present. Section 4, "The American Revolution Moves South" tells about the American Revolution leading up to the march of the Patriots in the year 1780. Section 5 "Major Patrick Ferguson" describes a portrait of the British officer and the text accompanying it. Section 6 "Who Were the Backcountry and Piedmont Patriots?" gives a background of the culture and ethnicities of the communities that many Patriot soldiers came from. A row of photographs entitled "Sites Along the Trail" highlights six different locations along the trail, and is described in section 7. "Visiting the Trail Today" in section 8 makes suggestions of things to do when exploring different portions of the Overmountain Victory Trail. "One Trail with Many Partners" in section 9 lists the different parks that provide access to the trail as well as visitor centers and their contacts for more information.
Date created:
10/14/2020
IMAGE and TEXT: Section 4 of 17: The American Revolution Moves South.
IMAGE and TEXT: Section 4 of 17: The American Revolution Moves South.
DESCRIPTION:The image is a wide sweeping oil painting done by Lloyd Branson in 1915, depicting the gathering of the "Overmountain Men" before beginning their march. It is a busy scene, with no apparent organization of the men. Young white men in their 20s and 30s are in a variety of colonial clothing, some with more formal three-sided cocked hats and tight knee-length stockings, others in long dirty overshirts and gray round fur caps on their heads. Most of the men are holding or carrying long rifles, their wooden stocks resting on the ground while small groups of men cluster together in discussion. All of their faces are happy and clean-shaven, some in slight smiles while others are fully grinning, denoting the confidence they feel in their undertaking and the almost jovial atmosphere of their gathering. Scattered through the group can be seen a few men wearing small leather pouches slung over their shoulders to carry bullets, along with cow horns on shoulder straps to carry gunpowder slung beside the small leather bags . Some of the men stand beside their horses, securing rolled up blankets full of supplies to the back of their leather saddles. Scattered among the men are women in long gowns with cloth caps of various colors covering their heads. These families are shown saying goodbye to their men as they prepare to mount their horses, with one hand on the saddle and a foot raised to the stirrups. Children are sprinkled throughout the scene as well, wearing miniature versions of their parent's clothing; one on the right is being directed by his mother towards where his mounted father is waving goodbye, while on the left a nursing mother converses with a fellow well-wishing wife. At the edges of each cluster of people are one or two scruffy brown and white dogs who have followed their owners to the scene. The eye is drawn to the middle of the painting where two men are mounted on tan horses with leather saddles. They are wearing three-sided cocked black hats with a faint glimmer of silver or gold edges, blue coats with tan edges around the collar and down the chest, tight tan pants extending to the knee, and knee length leather riding boots. Red sashes around their waist suggest these are men in leadership roles, and each one is reaching down to shake the hands of other men standing around them. In the background a group of men are walking away in two close lines, their rifles carried on their shoulders and rolled-up blankets tied upon their backs. One man of this group is running behind trying to catch up, while another small group of men wave to them and raise their hats to cheer them on. At the far left of the scene in the background can be glimpsed the edge of a river lapping against a thin rocky beach, while in the left foreground is the left flank of a large cow, covered in brown and white hair. The upper right corner of the painting has laid on it a quote, saying "The first link in a chain of evils that... ended in the total loss of America," British General Sir Henry Clinton, Overall commander in North America. The bottom right corner contains the caption that follows.
CAPTION: Mounted Patriots vs. Loyalists on Foot: As this Lloyd Branson painting ”Gathering of the Mountain Men at Sycamore Shoals” suggests, the overmountain patriots were mounted. Their number eventually totaled 2,000. Being on horses enabled them to overtake Major Ferguson and his loyalist forces once the latter knew they were in pursuit. For the final leg the patriots selected 900 of their best mounted and armed men. They surrounded the loyalists at Kings Mountain, defeating them decisively and frustrating Britain’s southern strategy. CREDIT:Tennessee State Museum Collection. QUOTE:"The first link in a chain of evils that . . . ended in the total loss of America." — British General Sir Henry Clinton, Overall commander in North America.
RELATED TEXT: By early 1780 the American Revolution was stalemated. Unable to subdue the northern colonies, the British turned south. Campaigning from Savannah, Georgia, taken in late 1778, the British took Charleston, South Carolina—and 5,000 patriots—in May 1780. Southern colonies now had no organized resistance to invasion. Soon most of Georgia and South Carolina were occupied, and in August the British again routed patriots at Camden, South Carolina. That meant North Carolina was ripe for invasion. British strategy hinged on rallying Americans to fight for the Crown. War planners believed southern loyalists were many and would fight the patriots if the British gained control. At first the plan seemed to work. British Inspector of Militia for the Southern Provinces Major Patrick Ferguson was to recruit and train this hoped-for loyalist militia. At Ninety Six, a western South Carolina post, Ferguson raised and trained several regiments of loyalist militia to support British forces and to control the re-taken colonies. General Lord Cornwallis, British commander in the South, started moving his army into North Carolina in September 1780. Ferguson and 1,000 loyalists were to advance along the western frontier to recruit more men, protect Cornwallis’s left flank, and deter Scotch-Irish frontier settlers from joining the patriots. Ferguson moved north and west, probing to Gillespie Gap, east of today’s Spruce Pine, North Carolina. He sent a verbal ultimatum to settlers west of the Blue Ridge: quit opposing British arms, or “he would march his army over the mountains, hang their leaders, and lay their country waste with fire and sword.” His demand was a strategic blunder. It forced Scotch-Irish frontiersmen—who largely stayed aloof from events to their east—into the patriot camp. Patriot militia leaders Colonels John Sevier and Isaac Shelby appealed to the patriot militia of southwest Virginia and northwest Virginia militiamen under Colonel William Campbell set out from Abingdon, Virginia. They reached Sycamore Shoals (in today’s Elizabethton, Tennessee) the next day, joining 400 men led by Sevier and Shelby, and 200 more led by Colonel Charles McDowell. On September 26, this 1,000-strong mounted militia set out to the southeast. Their first goal: to join with North and South Carolina piedmont men at Quaker Meadows plantation near today’s Morganton, North Carolina. On September 30, 350 patriots from present-day North Carolina counties of Surry, Wilkes, and Caldwell met there with the over-the-mountains group. The patriot force would eventually total 2,000 men, most mounted, including militia from South Carolina and Georgia. En route the overmountain men had advanced through ridgelines climbing to nearly 5,000 feet. In Yellow Mountain Gap on Roan Mountain, September 27, snow was “shoe-mouth deep.” On a nearby mountain bald they fired a volley to celebrate crossing the Blue Ridge. But that day two men deserted to warn the British of their approach. On September 28 the patriots split their force so the loyalists—assumed nearby—could not elude them. They reunited September 30 west of Quaker Meadows, to hunt for Ferguson in vain for five days. Alerted to their presence and strength, Ferguson was retreating toward the main British army in Charlotte, North Carolina. The breakthrough came October 5 as the patriot militia learned from South Carolina Colonel Edward Lacey of Ferguson’s retreat toward Charlotte. The next day 900 select mounted patriots—both overmountain men and piedmont men—set out in hot pursuit that would last all night. At Hannah’s Cowpens (South Carolina) they rested the horses, ate a light meal, and pondered their next move. That would be the decisive Battle of Kings Mountain, October 7, 1780. The British threat to North Carolina would be thwarted there, forcing a retreat of the main army to South Carolina. Private citizens supplied only by themselves had marched 330 miles—mostly through bad weather, over terrain one must experience to appreciate—to attack and defeat Major Ferguson’s loyalists. The victory allowed a new patriot army to form under General Nathanael Greene and to resist British moves in 1781. The revolution was back on track.
Date created:
10/14/2020
IMAGES and TEXT: Section 5 of 17: Maj. Patrick Ferguson and a Patriot militiaman.
IMAGES and TEXT: Section 5 of 17: Maj. Patrick Ferguson and a Patriot militiaman.
IMAGE 1 of 2: Maj. Patrick Ferguson. DESCRIPTION: On the far right side of the page is a thin column of faded red. At the top of the column in fancy script is the title "Major Patrick Ferguson" and underneath a photograph of a small oval painted portrait, possibly from a locket on a necklace, with the thin gold edge of the frame barely visible. The portrait has a black background on the left, fading to light grey as you move right. The figure is shown from the chest up, a young white man turned to his left, but head turned slightly right to face the viewer. He is wearing a bright red coat, the uniform of a British officer during the mid-18th century. He has a black cloth tied closely around his throat, with black edges running down the front of his red coat, which is opened just enough to show the bright white ruffles of his shirt beneath. Crossing his chest are white straps running over each shoulder. As one of these straps reaches his right shoulder, it runs underneath a red strap of his coat decorated with gold edging. Close against his chest can be seen part of the handle of a sword. The handle is shiny polished brass, with a thin piece of metal curving around from the bottom of the handle to the top near where the blade connects. This curved piece of metal will protect the users hands when grasping the sword handle. His face is clean shaven, and has light brown reddish hair cut short in the front and sides but grown long and pulled together running down the back of his neck. He has a prominent nose turning downwards towards the tip, dark calm eyes, and a slight smile forming at the corner of his mouth.
CAPTION: Ferguson hailed from the Scottish highlands gentry. In Gaelic his name “Feargachus” means “bold.” He was cool and tenacious under fire. At Kings Mountain he was the only British soldier in a battle that was essentially civil war between patriot militia and his combined loyalist regulars and militia. CREDIT:Private collection, Scotland.
IMAGE 2 of 2: Patriot on horseback. DESCRIPTION: In the middle of the page dividing two bodies of text is a National Park Service painting of a Patriot militiaman, a white man around his late 30s. He is mounted on a brown horse, its mane and tail blowing as it trots into the wind. The man is bundled in clothing against the cold, his long off-white shirt visible beneath a large red blanket he has wrapped around himself. His feet in the stirrups are wrapped in layers of rags, and a grey handkerchief is wrapped around his head and ragged brimmed hat, bending his hat brim down on the sides and tying underneath his chin. His face shows signs of a beard starting to grow on his chin, and his nose and cheeks are turning red from the cold. His eyes are focused, brow furroughed and eyes squinted in concentration. Behind his saddle is a rolled up blue blanket and a leather bag, and slung across his back is his rifle, the long barrel protruding down to his right from underneath his red blanket cloak. The other end of his rifle, the wooden stock with a metal panel, sticks up beside the left side of his head.
CAPTION: Patriot crossing the mountains, pursuing Major Ferguson’s Loyalist Army. CREDIT:NPS / Louis S. Glanzman.
Date created:
10/14/2020
MAP, IMAGES and TEXT: Section 6 of 17 Who Were the Backcountry and Piedmont Patriots?
MAP, IMAGES and TEXT: Section 6 of 17 Who Were the Backcountry and Piedmont Patriots?
OVERVIEW: There is a map and three portraits.
MAP: Map of the Southeast. DESCRIPTION: The image is a map of the English colonies along the Atlantic coast showing where the people from North Britain emigrated to. The map is focused on the states that border the Atlantic Ocean, with southern New York state on its northern border, southern Georgia its southern border, the Atlantic Ocean its eastern border, and extending as far west as to just show the eastern tips of Tennessee, Kentucky and half of Ohio. Each state is labeled with its name, and splotches of color to show where immigrants from North Britain tended to settle during the 18th century. From the top-down, there is a large spot of color over central and southwestern Pennsylvania, and a small spot in northwestern New Jersey. From Pennsylvania, a swatch of color extends southwest through parts of Maryland and West Virginia along Virginia's western border into its south-central area and into North Carolina. Two large color spots are in central North Carolina, with a small spot near the eastern coast. South Carolina's spots begin at the North Carolina border and extend over much of the state, bleeding over the southwestern border into Georgia.
CAPTION: Most immigrants from North Britain’s borderlands in the 1700s settled southern highlands areas, but some settled piedmont or low-country areas. CREDIT: Map at left based on a map by Andrew Mudryk in Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America, by David Hackett Fischer, New York: Oxford University Press, 1989, Page 637.
IMAGE 1 of 3: Isaac Shelby. DESCRIPTION: This image is the first in a series of three oval painted portraits. The first portrait is of Isaac Shelby from his later life after the American Revolution. It is a dark, almost black background. Shelby is shown from his chest up, wearing a black coat in the style of the early 19th century, with a high coat collar coming up his neck almost to his ears, and the body of the coat opened slightly to reveal his crisp white shirt and white neckerchief tied around his throat. The faint yellow edge of his vest can be seen following the edge of his opened coat. He is an older white man, with short white hair, clean shaven face, and a reddish complexion. A slight double chin is visible above his white tied neckerchief. He is turned to his right, but looking directly at the viewer with a serious expression, his left eyebrow raised either in curiosity or judgement. CAPTION: Isaac Shelby refused to stop and rest on October 6 after 36 hours of travel. He vowed to follow Ferguson into Lord Cornwallis’s lines if necessary. He later became Kentucky’s first governor. CREDIT:Kentucky Historical Society.
IMAGE 2 of 3: William Campbell. DESCRIPTION: This image is the second in a series of three oval painted portraits. This middle painting is of William Campbell how he would have appeared during the American Revolution. He is a white man in his late thirties, shown from the chest up, with a clean shaven face, sharp facial features, and long reddish brown hair pulled behind him and tied with a black string. On his head he wears a black hat with the three sides folded up into the "cocked" or "tricorn" style, a white edge running along the brim. His white shirt collar is visible above a piece of black cloth tied around his throat, and below the black cloth can be seen white ruffles from his shirt. Instead of a coat he is wearing an off-white "hunting shirt," a loose overshirt with a fringed cape that drapes over the shoulders. The front of the hunting shirt shows the fringed edge of the cape hanging down. Behind him can be seen the top of a wooded treeline in the distance, with a pale blue sky above. CAPTION: William Campbell, a Virginian, led the patriot army, chosen to command by his fellow colonels. He died in 1781, just before the battle of Yorktown. CREDIT: Robert Wilson.
IMAGE 3 of 3: John Sevier. DESCRIPTION: This image is the third in a series of three oval painted portraits. This last painting is of John Sevier at the end of the American Revolution. He is a middle-aged white man shown from the chest up, with a background that fades from dark in the left to light as you move right. He is wearing the uniform of an American general from the Revolution, a dark blue wool coat with light tan collar and edges running down the front, with large brass buttons at the corner of the collar and along the tan edges down his chest. Across the top of his shoulders are strips of gold decoration with two silver stars visible denoting his rank. As his coat is slightly open, the edges of a light tan vest can be seen with small brass buttons running along its edge, and a white ruffle from his shirt protruding out near his neck. Tied tightly around his throat is a white cloth. His face is clean shaven, with a few wrinkles along his forehead and face showing he is starting to age. He has a happy friendly expression, with rosy cheeks and a slight smile. His hair is pulled behind him, and covered in white-grey powder. CAPTION: John Sevier, widely known west of the Appalachian mountains, would be Tennessee’s first governor. This march and the ensuing battle built political fortunes. CREDIT: Tennessee State Museum, Tennessee Historical Society Collection.
RELATED TEXT: American patriot Patrick Henry exclaimed, “Give me liberty or give me death.” His mother called the American Revolution just more “lowland troubles.” She did not mean North America’s lowlands but the borderlands comprising the north of Ireland, the Scottish lowlands, and England’s northern counties. Most frontier people in the South were immigrants from those borderlands—which helps explain their strong reaction to Major Ferguson’s intimidating challenge. Patrick Henry descended from the same stock as the overmountain folk. They had settled much of colonial America’s backcountry in serial mass migrations—250,000 people—in the 1700s. Two-thirds came between 1765 and 1775. In fighting Ferguson’s loyalists, they replayed five generations of similar conflict in North Britain, where so-called “borderers” had reacted violently to generations of oppression—with little love lost on the Crown or on state-sponsored religion. The overmountain folk had largely remained aloof from the revolution—until Ferguson issued his ultimatum. Called ”backwater men” here, overmountain folk made up 90 percent of the southern highlands Euro-Americans, dominating the culture even more than that figure suggests. They possessed fierce pride, were stoutly self-contained, and practiced a militantly non-hierarchical form of Presbyterianism. To them, everyone was a foreigner except neighbors and kin—as defined over generations of conflict in their North Britain homelands. Arriving in America’s backcountry, they fought some of the most fierce Indian wars against some of the strongest, most war-like Indian groups. Even with the Indians subdued, the southern highlands retained their border character as a contested territory lacking established government or rule of law. The overmountain people’s heritage fit them to this anarchic environment. It suited their extended family system, warrior ethic, small-farm economy, and informal and self-enforced style of retributive justice. Writing of this American backcountry, historian David Hackett Fischer has observed that “The ethos of the North British borders came to dominate this ‘dark and bloody ground,’ partly by force of numbers, but mainly because it was a means of survival in a raw and dangerous world.” Major Ferguson’s great mistake—it proved fatal for him and disastrous to British efforts to staunch the American Revolution—was to goad this borderlands heritage of the overmountain and piedmont settlers into championing the patriot cause so decisively.
Date created:
10/14/2020
IMAGES: Section 7 of 17: Sites Along the Trail. A series of 6 color photographs show different portions of the Overmountain Victory Trail.
IMAGES: Section 7 of 17: Sites Along the Trail.
A series of 6 color photographs show different portions of the Overmountain Victory Trail.
IMAGE 1 of 6: Sycamore Shoals. DESCRIPTION: A color photograph. A wide gravel path divides the image up the middle as it follows the trail through a heavily forested area, the paths edges filled with yellow and brown fallen leaves. The trees leaves are bright green, with a few branches starting to show the color change of autumn. Most of the scene is heavily shaded by the large trees on either side of the trail, but a few areas of sunlight peak through and cast shadows upon the gravel. Two people, a man and woman, are walking the trail beside each other towards the viewer, wearing recreations of 18th century clothing. The man on the right is wearing a white long-sleeved shirt, a dark colored vest, and dark pants that cover his legs until just below his knees, showing his tight stockings that cover his lower legs. He is using a walking stick in his right hand. The woman on the left is wearing a bright white cloth cap covering her hair, and the brightness of her white apron contrasts the faded darker colors of her jacket and skirt she is wearing beneath the apron. CAPTION:Sycamore Shoals. CREDIT:NPS.
IMAGE 2 of 6: Cowpens. DESCRIPTION: This is a color photograph. A tan road of dirt and gravel makes a curve away from the viewer as it moves through a sunny grassy field to the left. A scattering of trees cast their shadows to their left across the field and road. They are a mixture of tall pine trees with green healthy needles, and deciduous trees who have yet to sprout new leaves in the spring. There is a noticeable lack of brush and smaller trees, with only the large trees and bright green grass filling the image. CAPTION:Cowpens. CREDIT:NPS.
IMAGE 3 of 6: Elkin Trail. DESCRIPTION: This color photograph is a close up of one of the trail markers placed along hiking portions of the Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail. Set in a lush grassy area, the marker is a square brown metal post topped with a slanted square metal panel. On the panel is blazed the trail's emblem: it is a white triangle with its sides bowed out. Within the border of the triangle is the text "Overmountain Victory" around the top, and "National Historic Trail" along the bottom. Within the triangle is a silhouette of a man carrying a long rifle down by his side, holding it with both hands, as if preparing to move into a battle. He is wearing a wide brimmed hat. The thin outline of a mountain skyline jaggedly works its way across the background behind him, and the year "1780" is printed to the right of him. A small portion of a dirt trail can be seen behind the trail marker. CAPTION: Elkin Trail. CREDIT:NPS.
IMAGE 4 of 6: Quaker Meadows. DESCRIPTION: The focus of this color photograph is a large old brick house. The faded bricks are accented by a wooden porch with a handrail built onto the front of the house painted a crisp white. There are two front doors evenly spaced across the front of the house, both flanked by a window to the outside edge, and all painted the same crisp white as the porch. The second floor of the home has four windows evenly spaced across, with small-paned windows, the frames all painted the same crisp white as the first floor wooden features. Obscuring part of the house is a towering large tree growing in the front yard, its lower limbs blocking half of the house's second floor and the roof, and the upper portion of the tree extending out of frame. On the side of the house is visible the attached large brick chimney, obscured by the branches of the same large tree as it nears the edge of the roof. Back to the right side of the house is part of an additional outbuilding extending out of the image. It is made of the same bricks as the main house, and has the same white paint on a shuttered window and small half-door. CAPTION: Quaker Meadows. CREDIT:NPS.
IMAGE 5 of 6: Abingdon Muster Grounds. DESCRIPTION: This image is a color photograph of a grassy meadow, bright green in the sunlight. Bisecting the field from left to right is a small stream, with taller rough grass growing along its banks. The far side of the pasture is bordered by a tall treeline, casting shadows into the bright open space. In the foreground of the picture and running around the left side of the pasture is a fence made of stacked rails, zig-zagging its way along the field's edge and dividing it from a gravel driving path. Within the fence, located in the pasture, is a large boulder sitting by itself. On the far left side of the photo can be seen some parts of shadowy structures, their roof eaves just edging into view, and a large tree growing along the zig-zagging fence. CAPTION: Abingdon Muster Grounds. CREDIT:NPS.
IMAGE 6 of 6: OVTA Annual March at Sycamore Shoals. DESCRIPTION: This color photograph is focused on twelve people standing in a line knee-deep in a river, which fills two thirds of the image. The people are wearing 18th-century style clothing, with long puffy sleeves and wide brimmed hats, with cloth and leather bags hanging from their shoulders. They are carrying long rifles, aiming together up into the air to the left, with clouds of white smoke pouring out of the barrels showing they have just fired. The various colors of their clothing and the white clouds of smoke from their rifles is reflected in the rippling water around them. The far river bank behind them is wooded with tall trees, with leaves starting to turn colors in the autumn. CAPTION:O V T A Annual March at Sycamore Shoals. CREDIT: NPS.
Date created:
10/14/2020
TEXT: Section 8 of 17: Visiting the trail today.
TEXT: Section 8 of 17: Visiting the trail today.
The 330-mile commemorative motor route uses public highways that may be closed locally for repair or weather conditions. The eventual goal: a 330-mile non-motorized route for hiking, horseback riding, bicycling, etcetera. Motor route segments are in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. With other area citizens, descendants of the patriots and loyalists formed the Overmountain Victory Trail Association (O V T A) to advocate designating a national historic trail, and Congress did so in 1980. Each year the association holds a reenactment march over a two-week period. For information contact O V T A at www.o v t a.org.The reenactment is open to everyone. It proceeds both on foot and in cars, so those not wishing to walk may take part. The Trail is still being developed, but you may access some of the route. Trail sections become official via agreements with landowners. Trail logo signs identify all certified segments. Respect landowners’ rights; stay on the Trail.
Section 8.1 explains more detail about what activities are available along the trail. Section 8.2 reminds visitors about the safety risks and precautions while exploring the trail. Section 8.3 tells where to find more information about the Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail. Section 8.4 describes the logo of the Overmountain Victory Trail, located on all manner of trail signs and brochures.
Date created:
10/14/2020
TEXT: Section 8.1 of 17: Activities
TEXT: Section 8.1 of 17: Activities
Along the Trail, federal, state, and local parks and forests offer museums, historical interpretive talks, commemorations, historic house tours, and a summer historical drama—at Sycamore Shoals State Historic Area—as well as birding, boating, fishing, hiking, nature walks, swimming, rafting, and winter sports. Service animals are welcome.
Date created:
10/14/2020
TEXT: Section 8.2 of 17: Safety
TEXT: Section 8.2 of 17: Safety
Drive carefully—and never stop on road surfaces to look at scenery, wildlife, or a historic site. Pull off the road completely. Exploring on foot near roads, be alert to and cautious about traffic. Keep track of young children at all times. Learn how to spot poison oak, poison ivy, and other plants to avoid. Beware of snakes (including poisonous snakes) but don’t harm them. Do not place your hands or feet where you can’t see. Watch for spiders, bees, wasps, and hornets, and check yourself for ticks and chiggers in summer. Firearms regulations conform to state laws; see the park website for Park Management, Laws and Policies.
Date created:
10/14/2020
TEXT: Section 8.3 of 17: More Information
TEXT: Section 8.3 of 17: More Information
Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail, 2 6 3 5 Park Road, Blacksburg, South Carolina 2 9 7 0 2. Phone number 864-936-3477. Website www.n p s.g o v / o v v i. Visit www.n p s.g o v / n t s for information about the National Trails System. This Trail is an affiliated area of the National Park System. Please visit www.n p s.g o v to learn more about national parks and National Park Service programs in America's communities.
Date created:
10/14/2020
IMAGE: Section 8.4 of 17: Overmountain Victory logo
IMAGE: Section 8.4 of 17: Overmountain Victory logo
DESCRIPTION: This image is located on the bottom of the front page of the brochure, beside the section about how to get more information about the trail. It is shaped like a triangle but with sides that are bowed outwards. It has a thick white border, within which reads "OVERMOUNTAIN VICTORY" up the left side and down the right, and the bottom reads "NATIONAL HISTORIC TRAIL." Within the border is a silhouette of a man holding a long rifle with both hands, down by his waist at the ready. The faint shape of a bag can be seen hanging on his side, and the brim of his hat extends out from the sides of his head. Behind him in the background is the jagged outline of a mountainous skyline. Beside the man is the number "1780." CREDIT: NPS.
Date created:
10/14/2020
TEXT: Section 9 of 17: One Trail with Many Partners.
TEXT: Section 9 of 17: One Trail with Many Partners.
Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail is part of the National Trails System, which is administered by the National Park Service. The trail is administered in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Forest Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture; Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, and South Carolina; local governments; and historical societies and citizen groups. Trail Partners offering special events and interpretive programs and activities are listed here.
Abingdon Muster Grounds 1780 Muster Place Abingdon, V A 2 4 2 1 0, 276-525-1050, www.abingdonmustergrounds.com.
Blue Ridge Parkway 1 9 9 Hemphill Knob Asheville, NC 2 8 8 0 3, 828-298-0398 for a recording 828-271-4779 for headquarters, www.n p s.g o v/ b l r i.
Museum of North Carolina Minerals, Blue Ridge Parkway Milepost 331, 828-765-2761, www.byways.org/explore/byways/2280/places/28594.
Cowpens National Battlefield, P.O. Box 3 0 8, Chesnee, SC 2 9 3 2 3, 864-461-2828, www.n p s.g o v/c o w p.
Fort Defiance, P.O. Box 686, Lenoir, NC 2 8 6 4 5, 828-754-7095, www.fortdefiancenc.org.
Historic Burke Foundation (Quaker Meadows) P.O. Box 9 1 5, 102 East Union Street, Morganton, NC 2 8 6 8 0, 828-437-4104, www.historicburke.org.
Kings Mountain National Military Park, 2 6 2 5 Park Road, Blacksburg, SC 2 9 7 0 2, 864-936-7921, www.n p s.g o v/k i m o.
Kings Mountain State Park, 1277 Park Road, Blacksburg, SC 2 9 7 0 2, 803-222-3209, www.southcarolinaparks.com/park-finder/state-park/945.aspx.
Lake James State Park, P.O. Box 340, Nebo, NC, 2 8 7 6 1, 828-652-5047, h t t p://i l s.u n c.e d u/parkproject/visit/l a j a /m a i n.p h p.
Old Wilkes, Inc.100 East Main Street, Wilkesboro, NC 2 8 6 9 7, 336-667-3171, www.wilkesheritagemuseum.com.
Pleasant Gardens (Joseph McDowell House)Highway 70 West, Marion, NC 2 8 7 5 2, www.mcdowellnc.org.
Rocky Mount State Historic Site and Museum, P.O. Box 160, Piney Flats, TN 3 7 6 8 6, 423-538-7396, www.rockymountmuseum.com.
Sycamore Shoals State Historic Area, 1651 West Elk Avenue, Elizabethton, TN 3 7 6 4 3, 423-543-5808, h t t p ://state.tn.u s/environment/parks/SycamoreShoals.
W. Scott Kerr Dam and Reservoir, 499 Reservoir Road, Wilkesboro, NC 2 8 6 9 7, 336-921-3390, www.s a w.u s a c e.a r m y.m i l/w i s c o t t/i n d e x.h t m.