Paoli Battlefield Seeks National Landmark Status

Representatives from the Paoli Battlefield Preservation Fund will hold a public meeting next week to discuss the comprehensive plan to upgrade the historic site to achieve National Landmark status.

The non-profit fund was awarded a two-year, $58,500 grant from the National Parks Service’s Battlefields Protection Program last year to document the site’s role in the American Revolution as the site of the Battle of Paoli. According to the organization, British infantry soldiers captured and killed more than 200 American fighters on September 20, 1777. The brutality was so severe that it is referred to as the Paoli Massacre.

“This project will fully document and authenticate prior findings related to the battle, document new findings, and establish the context of the battle in order to update the battlefield’s National Register of Historic Places documentation,” the National Park Service’s American Battlefield Protection Program said in a statement. “The Battle of Paoli, fought in September 1777, was a successful nighttime attack. British General William Howe attempted to dislodge General Anthony Wayne’s Continental Division whose position in Paoli threatened the rear of the British encampment. This work ultimately will lead to nominating the site for further designation on the National Register.”

The meeting on April 29 at 7 p.m. at the Malvern Borough Hall, guests will hear about the grant’s scope, boundaries of the Battle of Paoli, its national significance, the grant’s research and documentation goals, and the process to become a National Historic Landmark.

The boundaries of the Battle stretch far beyond the core site comprised of the Paoli Memorial Grounds and the Paoli Battlefield Historical Park located on Monument Avenue in Malvern. It includes areas and buildings in Easttown, East Whiteland, Tredyffin, West Whiteland and Willistown Townships that may be included in the National Historic Landmark area.

This meeting is designed to give an opportunity for questions, comments and input from the public as the process continues.