2019 LIVING HISTORY EVENTS AT THE ABINGDON MUSTER GROUNDS

2019 LIVING HISTORY EVENTS AT THE ABINGDON MUSTER GROUNDS

Abingdon, VA --  The Abingdon Muster Grounds announces its 2019 schedule of Living History events, featuring history reenactors in costume, bringing colonial backcountry Virginia to life.    The first event takes place June 22, 2019 from 1:00 pm-4:00 pm, with additional dates scheduled in August.   There will be activities for the whole family, and all events are free and open to the public. 

This event will highlight the importance of the Washington County, Virginia militia and the Revolutionary War Battle of Kings Mountain, 1780.  There will be demonstrations related to life in backcountry Virginia during colonial times.  Join the Overmountain Victory Trail Association, Blacks Fort Chapter-DAR, and General William Campbell Chapter-SAR as they bring history to life. 

Activities include musket and rifle demonstrations, Colonial kids games, textile demonstrations, colonial music. Living historians will interact with the public in character as backcountry colonial Virginians. 

Attendees can also view recent improvements to the Abingdon Muster Grounds, including native plantings and trout stream restorations along Wolf Creek, as well as the just completed walkway connecting The Muster Grounds to the Abingdon Urban Pathway. 

Parking for the event is located at the end of Hurt Street, alongside the Abingdon Urban Pathway.  Visitors can also park at the Abingdon Municipal Lot on Main Street, and walk approximately 1.2 miles along the Urban Pathway to the event.

The Abingdon Muster Grounds is a picturesque 9-acre park with significant history, certified by the National Park Service as the northern trailhead of the Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail. Under the leadership of Colonel William Campbell, 400 Virginians set out to join patriot militia from modern-day Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia to confront the British at the Battle of Kings Mountain.  Thomas Jefferson said it was “the turn of the tide of success which terminated the Revolutionary War, with the seal of our independence”. 

The Keller Interpretive Center, located at the Abingdon Muster Grounds, houses southwest Virginia’s premier Revolutionary War exhibits.  Artifacts associated with backcountry Virginia and the Battle of Kings Mountain are on display.

Directions to event parking: From I-81 Exit 17, take Cummings Street north; left on Main Street. Go  0.5 miles to left on Preston Street. Take the second right on Hagy Street and follow it until it dead ends at the Abingdon Muster Grounds. Parking will be on the left.

Additional Living History Events are scheduled for August 1-3, 2019 and August 24, 2019.  If you would like more information, please call 276-525-1050 or email lhunter@abingdon-va.gov.

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