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Battle Park

Introduction

Text-to-speech Audio

Battle Park, located across the street from the Battle House, is a nature reserve on UNC's campus established to give students an area to be inspired by nature. The area was originally blazed and explored by UNC President Kemp Plummer Battle, who lived nearby and used the forest and areas within for inspiration in the late 1800s. The Forest has been managed by the NC Botanical Garden since 2004.

Images

Plaque outside Battle Park

Plant, Plant community, Land lot, Grass

Backstory and Context

Text-to-speech Audio

Battle Park is located to the northeast of campus, and is a nature reserve frequently travelled by Alumni, Students, and Faculty. The forest was originally blazed and developed by UNC President Kemp Plummer Battle, who used the park to practice reciting speeches in peace. Plummer made many trails and landmarks within the forest including, the rainy day trail, lover's stone seat, and monarch of the forest.

After falling into disarray in the late 90's, the University gave control of Battle Park and the nearby Forest Theatre to the North Carolina Botanical Garden in 2004, since which has been doing restoration on different parts of the park.

The park is still open to the public 24 hours a day, and many people still walk the trails blazed by Kemp Plummer Battle.

Sources

NC Botanical Garden. History of Battle Park, NC Botanical Garden. January 1st 2021. Accessed May 12th 2021. https://ncbg.unc.edu/visit/battle-park-forest-theatre/#:~:text=Most%20of%20the%20forest%20in,contemplative%20hours%20within%20the%20forest..

Image Sources(Click to expand)

Andrew Kaplan Photography

Additional Information