Wal-Mart often comes up against opposition when it tries to move in to town. Local residents and activists rightfully fear Wal-Mart will make their community less safe, less economically sound, and crowded with traffic. But recently, there's been a site fight with a whole different spin: historic preservation. It seems Wal-Mart wants to build a store on a Civil War battlefield. Now historians are throwing their hats in the ring to fight Wal-Mart too.

The Civil War Preservation Trust and Friends of Wilderness Battlefield are opposing the store at this sight. Here's what Friends of Wilderness Battlefield spokesman Craig Rains had to say about the site in an interview with the Orange County Review:

"I just think it’s absolutely the worst place to put it is on the battlefield."

Instead, Rains suggested alternative locations could protect the Wilderness Battlefield area, while better serving the county with no negative aspects for the Wal-Mart corporation.

"There are plenty of places for them to move we think they’re creating the wrong environment at the battlefield," Rains said.
Two possible substitute sites could be at the intersection of Routes 20 and 611 in Locust Grove, or further down Route 3 on an area behind the Bloom grocery store. Suitable existing traffic patterns, and site plans are already in place at both locations. And, he added, engineering improvements to traffic at a Locust Grove location, or at an intersection nearer to Lake of the Woods would be far simpler than trying to improve travelways at routes 3 and 20.
"We’d like to see them get away from this intersection [routes 3 and 20] and move down the road," he said. "If they would move it up here to LOW and put it behind the Bloom there’s already a traffic light there."

The Civil War Preservation Trust has set up an action page where you can let county supervisors know what you think and donate to their fund to stop Wal-Mart from marring a piece of our history. Go check it out and help them keep Wal-Mart off a Civil War Battlefield.