History Buffs Rise Against Wal-Mart

The tree line beyond the Sheetz gas station is the site of the proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter. Opponents say the store would unleash a wave of development, marring the landscape around the Wilderness Battlefield of the Civil War. (By Tracy A. Woodward -- The Washington Post)
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"I think economic downturns clarify some things," said R. Mark Johnson, chairman of the Orange County Board of Supervisors, which will ultimately decide on the proposal. "In this environment, to have a major retailer like Wal-Mart still want to come in is fairly significant and not something we can be casual about."

Johnson said he plans to support Wal-Mart and thinks that a majority of the five-member board will vote to approve the supercenter. The company's proposal first must be reviewed by county planners and state transportation officials and then will go to a public hearing, Johnson said. He said he expected the proposal to come before the supervisors for a vote between February and April.

Based on sales estimates, the Wal-Mart is expected to generate about $500,000 a year in tax revenue for Orange County. The county's budget, including its school spending, is roughly $90 million, Johnson said, and tax revenue is falling.

"In order to have a healthy economy, you need retail in order to satisfy demand," Johnson said. "If [the project] doesn't happen in Orange County, it'll happen in Spotsylvania County, and then we'll lose that revenue." There are three Wal-Mart stores in the Fredericksburg area, including Spotsylvania County, and one in Culpeper.

Opponents of the Wal-Mart plan said they are not against the company or its presence in Orange County, only its proposed location. They are urging Wal-Mart to build a few miles down the road, closer to the Lake of the Woods gated subdivision, which has about 4,000 residents and would be the store's major source of customers.

"It's got nothing to do with Wal-Mart," said Jim Campi, spokesman for the Civil War Preservation Trust, the group leading the fight. "But this is the worst possible location. I believe this is the closest Wal-Mart has ever tried to build next to a national park."

The Wilderness Battlefield is part of the National Park Service's Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park, which also includes the Chancellorsville Battlefield.

Wal-Mart spokesman Morris said the company should be judged only on the merits of its proposed store and not by other development that it might attract. "All we have control over is what we're proposing," he said. "Don't criticize this plan because you're afraid something will get built after that. We shouldn't be held accountable because people's real concern is future commercial development a year or five years down the road."

The company has offered to place commemorative markers and other monuments to the battle at the supercenter. "There's no reason why [the battlefield and the store] can't coexist," Morris said.

As for residents, some said they were willing to trade a little history for convenience.

"I think we need it here," said Nina Hudson, who said she drives 30 to 40 miles round trip to shop at Wal-Mart in Culpeper or Fredericksburg.

"That's the past, and we have to think about the future," said Jackie Lee, who also lives near the proposed store. "The world's growing, and you can't stop that."

Stuart Stevens, a naval police officer, said he's dead set against the Wal-Mart. "They don't care about history," he said. "They just care about the almighty dollar."

Early this month, not far from the proposed Wal-Mart site, the park superintendent, Russ Smith, and the park historian, Eric Mink, took a walk out to a headstone near Ellwood Manor, a 1790s house that served as headquarters for Union commanders during the battle and is being restored. The view from the front porch has changed little in 150 years, encompassing mostly open fields, old barns and rolling hills.

"These are sacred spaces," Smith said, worrying that visitors to the historic home would also face views of Wal-Mart.

The crudely cut headstone in a cornfield near the house is marked "Arm of Stonewall Jackson," designating the spot where the general's amputated arm was supposedly buried after his accidental and mortal wounding by his own men in the 1863 Chancellorsville battle.

The Park Service excavated the site but never found the arm, Smith said.