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The West Virginia Encyclopedia
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The West Virginia Encyclopedia
Located opposite the mouth of Meadow River, 12 miles south of Summersville, this 156-acre park encompasses the Carnifex Ferry Civil War battlefield. Here, on September 10, 1861, Union forces led by Gen. William S. Rosecrans defeated Gen. John B. Floyd’s Confederate troops, who were camped on a farm owned by Henry Patterson.
The state legislature, noting interest in the annual reunion of Carnifex Ferry battle veterans, passed a bill on March 14, 1931, to create the Carnifex Ferry Battlefield Park Commission. In 1935, the legislature appropriated funds to buy the Patterson farm. In 1950, during the administration of Governor Okey Patteson, a grandson of Henry Patterson, additional state funds were used to improve the park.
Historical attractions include the restored Patterson House Museum and the annual Carnifex Ferry battle reenactment. Recreation areas feature picnicking, picnic shelters, hiking trails, three overlooks of the Gauley River, softball field, volleyball court, and horseshoe pits. Pierson Hollow, located in the park, contains a mixture of old-growth hemlock, yellow poplar, and white oak trees.
The park was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.
Read the National Register nomination.
Where People and Nature Meet: A History of West Virginia State Parks. Charleston: Pictorial Histories Publishing Company, 1988.
West Virginia Blue Book. Senate Clerk, State of West Virginia. Charleston, 1998.