Park superintendent warns of data centers’ ‘wholesale destruction’ of historic areas around the Manassas battlefield

Manassas National Battlefield Park

Warning of the “wholesale destruction” of historic landscapes related to major Civil War camps and troop burials, the new superintendent of Manassas National Battlefield Park has stated his strong concerns about the Prince William Digital Gateway, a plan to build 28 to 34 new data centers on 2,133 acres directly north of the national park.

In recent letters to Prince William County officials, Kristopher Butcher, the new superintendent of the Manassas National Battlefield Park, stopped short of expressing the park’s outright opposition to the proposed data center development but called for additional “research, analysis and mitigation efforts” to protect the area’s numerous historic resources.

“The current rezoning applications show that there will be a negative effect on the park and its resources, and we are advocating to mitigate that through a variety of methods,” Butcher said in an email to the Prince William Times.

Butcher’s concerns were expressed in letters addressing three rezoning applications associated with the PW Digital Gateway that were uploaded onto the county website on July 28. Manassas National Battlefield Park is one of several agencies that submitted comments on the rezoning plans, which are now in their third iteration.

Butcher is not the first battlefield superintendent to express concerns about the PW Digital Gateway. In December 2021, former battlefield superintendent Brandon Bies called the data center development "the single greatest threat" to the park in three decades. In February, then-acting superintendent James Bailey objected to the height of the data centers planned closest to the battlefield.

Butcher’s letter regarding PW Digital Gateway South, an area of about 340 acres directly adjacent to the battlefield, said the data centers planned in that area would impact the site of Camp Hardee, which was used by the Confederate Army in the fall and winter of 1861 and 1862. The camp was the site of a measles outbreak that led to the deaths of hundreds of soldiers.

“Many of these soldiers have been identified with names, approx(imate) date of death, and military unit information from the archival records, as well as oral histories provided by the property owners,” Butcher’s letter said. “It is clear that these soldiers were buried within the vicinity of the Pageland farm. There are likely hundreds of soldiers' graves within the project area or its immediate environs.”

Butcher further noted that the lack of the discovery of a “mass grave” somewhere near the farm does not mean the area does not contain soldiers’ remains.

“The potential grave locations of the soldiers of Camp Hardee ... would be buried not in a singular mass grave, but in a series of planned military burials,” Butcher wrote.

Due to the burials, Butcher’s letter requests that ground radar and other analysis be conducted on the land before the rezoning moves forward.

Pageland Farm was the subject of a recent debate about investigating the area for possible designation as a “county registered historic site.”

On July 25, the Prince William Board of County Supervisors voted against a request from the county's historical commission to consider the area for the designation. The 3-5 vote split along party lines with the board's Democratic majority voting in opposition. Several supervisors said they believed the request was driven by opponents of the PW Digital Gateway.

QTS, one of two data center developers seeking to build within the PW Digital Gateway, said its contractors have investigated the Pageland Lane corridor for historic resources and possible Civil War gravesites and have so far found no sign of human remains. Contractors have conducted more than 19,000 hand-dug “test pits,” according to a QTS spokesperson.

“To our knowledge, no evidence of human remains has been found, certainly none in recent history,” said Antonio J. Calabrese, a QTS attorney.

“Alleging that there are hundreds (or thousands) of bodies – with absolutely no documentation, no proof, and nothing credible other than ‘allegations’ – this is insufficient evidence for consideration by this responsible committee,” Calabrese said in a letter to the Prince William County Historical Commission.Butcher’s letter further warned of the project’s negative impacts on agricultural outbuildings and Pageland II, a home built around 1855 for an overseer of the Marsteller family’s Pageland plantation.

The data center project would also contribute to the destruction of “enslaved cemeteries or dwellings” that have not yet been identified, Butcher’s letter said.

Butcher requested a full historic study of the Pageland II house as well as a cultural landscape report. A cultural landscape report describes the physical history, analyzes existing conditions and recommends actions to preserve, restore, or rehabilitate a landscape, Butcher said.

“Cultural landscapes are historically significant places that reveal human interaction with the physical environment over time,” Butcher said.

Butcher also wrote letters detailing the National Park Service’s concerns about the other two rezoning applications in the Pageland Lane corridor: PW Digital Gateway North and the application filed by H&H Capital Acquisitions, also known as Compass datacenters.

Butcher said the NPS has concerns with both projects because of their impact on African American historical sites, including the Thornton School and an African American settlement that included the family of Jennie Dean.

The Thornton School educated freed slaves. Dean was born into slavery but went on to found the Manassas Industrial School for Colored Youth, the first secondary school for African American students in Northern Virginia.

“The northern area of the PW Digital Gateway is a rare and vanishing resource that tells the story of the African American community and experience after the Civil War forging a new life in a reconstructing South,” Butcher said in his letter about PW Digital Gateway North, which is also being developed by QTS.

In response to the letters, Compass Datacenters said the company completed a “comprehensive archaeological survey,” which determined no buildings occupied or owned by historic African American communities remain standing in the area of the Thornton settlement, according to Chris Curtis, Compass’ senior vice president of development and acquisitions.

Curtis noted that Compass has offered to help the county build an interpretive site commemorating the Thornton School and settlement “so that residents and visitors can appreciate the property’s important contributions to the region’s history.”

Butcher said he wants Prince William County officials and residents to know the NPS is concerned that the proposed data center developments will destroy historic sites “not yet protected by the park” and “degrade the integrity of those preserved by the park.”

“As (the battlefield is) likely the final resting place of hundreds of soldiers, it is thus singularly important to the understanding of the war and the immense human cost it extracted from the county,” Butcher said in his letter.

Reach Shannon Clark at [email protected].

Manassas National Battlefield Park’s superintendent has issued two letters opposing a plan t…

The Manassas National Battlefield Park is strongly objecting to a developer’s proposal to pu…

Superintendent Butcher is excelling in his responsibility to protect and preserve our National historic sites and the National Park. The HOA Roundtable of Northern Virginia is proud to recognize such courage and integrity. Our National Parks contribute immeasurably to our quality of life across the country. Every American should also be proud that he is serving the public interest. Without such advocacy these incredible resources would cease to exist as we know them. Everyone who values our shared national heritage should applaud him and the National Park Service. If we fail to be vigilant, we have no-one but ourselves to blame when every National Park across the country, with a nearby power line, is choked off by industrial development. Thank you Superintendent Kristopher Butcher!

30+ environmental and historic preservation organizations oppose the Digital Gateway and the massive threat it poses to a National Park. The National Park Service is clearly deeply concerned about this proposal. It is opposed by dozens of community groups, Homeowners Associations, and more. When will our elected leaders stand up against this destructive industry and protect the parks, our water, and our climate?

As we hear from more knowledgeable people (experts), we keep hearing reasons NOT to develop Pageland Lane, the site north of the Manassas National Battlefield Park. Whether it is water or air pollution or power or protecting our history, the arguments keep coming. We’ve heard from experts in all these areas. The answer is simple. Site data centers in industrial areas and not pristine watersheds or hallowed ground.

The only mitigation, and therefore, protection for the Battlefield, its viewsheds, its "historic sites preserved by the park" and those “not yet protected by the park”, is distance. The county-commissioned Stantec Report recommended no Data Centers within .5 mile of Manassas Battlefield and Bristow/ Kettle Run Historic Area. The report also recommended no Data Centers within .25 mile of Parks, Historical and Cultural Sites. It is time for the BOCS to acknowledge and abide by the Report they paid for.

Bravo to Kristopher Butcher, the new superintendent of the Manassas National Battlefield Park! We have fought for most of my life to protect Virginia’s history. The fight is getting harder as politicians with no respect for our history see only dollar signs in their eyes.

I don’t understand the concept of the county entrusting the preservation of historic sites and artifacts to commercial enterprises that have a financial incentive to minimize and ignore their significance. Isn’t this like asking the fox to guard the hen house?

Case in point – on August 4th a QTS attorney wrote a condescending 13-page letter to the Historical Commission, essentially telling them how they should do their jobs and what should be important to them. The letter suggested that since the Board of County Supervisors approved the Prince William Digital Gateway Comprehensive Plan Amendment, it is time for those charged with responsible stewardship of irreplaceable historic treasures to throw in the towel and fall in line.

The Democratic majority on the Board of County Supervisors seemed to echo the “done deal” attitude when they recently rejected resolutions intended to evaluate the historical and cultural significance of areas adjacent to the Manassas battlefield.

As the letter from the Superintendent of Manassas National Battlefield Park attests, those dedicated to preserving the historical and cultural bounty of Prince William County are not ready to lie down before this industrial steamroller.

You are getting a sneak preview of how the predatory big tech juggernauts and their army of sharkskin-clad mouthpieces intend to bend your county to their will. Be vigilant. Once you let this camel’s nose under the tent, you will never be able to evict it.

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