DAILY CLIPS COVER - East Carolina University

New archeological evidence recovered at the 300,000-square-foot search site last
year confirmed that the Battle of Alamance occurred where pre-colonial maps
showed it took place.
Nearly 150 artifacts have been discovered on the battlefield since September 2009
as part of the state’s Alamance Battleground Research Project. About 2,000
volunteer hours were used to conduct the work with help from the Old North State
Detectorists. It was the first time that the Alamance Battleground was
systematically searched inch by inch for historical items linked to the 18th
century.
Additional items found included grapeshot from Tryon’s 3-pound swivel cannons,
musket and rifle balls both fired and dropped during battle, a bayonet tip, a top jaw
cap for a flintlock musket and a tool used to adjust a flintlock musket for firing.
These items will be among those included in the new exhibit at the visitor’s center.
Bryan Dalton, Alamance Battleground site manager, has worked at the historic site
for 32 years. A week before the battleground’s scheduled anniversary celebration,
Dalton reflected on what the site has meant to him and the local community.
“For people living in Alamance County, the site represents an important part of
our state and national history,” Dalton said. “Local residents know they have
history right in their back yard.”
Dalton said he would like to see more local support for the battleground’s efforts
during the next 240 years and beyond. The battleground averages about 10,000
visitors annually and Dalton said about 50 percent of these visitors are from out of
state.
“We try to be a destination site,” Dalton said.
DALTON SAID the first monument was placed at the battleground in 1880 by a
group that had gathered at Graham and followed a wagon carrying the monument
to the site.
Between 1900 and 1910 the Alamance Battleground Co. organized to develop the
site into a park or historic site. Dalton said in the 1930s there was a local push to
develop a national park, but the site didn’t meet the necessary criteria.
In 1952, the Alamance Battleground Co. purchased 40 acres at South N.C. 62
where the Battle of Alamance occurred and the land was deeded to the state.