A Civil War trail brought $35 million to the local economy in 2007, according to a study released Monday.The Journey Through Hallowed Ground National Heritage Area, which runs from Virginia to Pennsylvania, includes two focus points in Frederick County: Monocacy National Battlefield and Catoctin Mountain Park.
"Attracting 7 million visitors in 2007, the 10 national parks within the National Heritage Area served as a sturdy tax base, job provider and income generator for their communities," according to an independent report by Michigan State University.
Overall, the Journey brought more than $247 million to 10 national parks and surrounding areas on the 175-trail from Monticello, in Virginia, to Gettysburg National Battlefield.
John K. Jones, communications director for the Journey Through Hallowed Ground Partnership, said the trail is dedicated to raising national and local awareness to the history of the region.
The JTHG Partnership is a non-profit group that brings businesses, developers, preservationists, farmers, students, teachers and elected officials together to discuss the balance of economic opportunities with a respect for the past and education of visitors.
Catoctin National Park brought in $33.5 million from nearly 600,000 visitors in 2007, of whom nearly 35,000 spent a night at the park, Jones said. Their visits created 631 jobs, with $12.5 million directly related to labor and $19 million in "value-added" funds -- indirect revenue from taxes, sales and other incomes from the tourists.
Monocacy National Battlefield had 22,125 visitors in 2007, the report said, with an economic impact of more than $1.5 million. That translated to 17 jobs, at $790,000 in direct revenues and $1.1 million in value-added income through taxes and sales.
"There's more than one reason to treasure these culturally rich and historically invaluable national parks," said Cate Magennis Wyatt, president of the partnership, in a prepared statement. "In a time when jobs are disappearing, businesses are closing and the tax base shrinking, we have yet another reason to prize these special parks."
She said the parks provide an "economical place to vacation" for both domestic and global tourists.
"Every tax dollar spent on national parks resulted in $4 in visitor spending in communities within 50 miles of a national park site," said Mary A. Bomar, National Parks Service director, in a statement.
The Tourism Council of Frederick County, as well as the Virginia Tourism Corp., Loudoun County Va., and Gettysburg Convention and Visitors Bureau, are joining to train staff members to "enrich the visitors experiences" on the Journey.
Daniel Stynes, an economist for Michigan State University who was involved in the study, said preliminary data for 2008 shows the number of visitors and spending will equal or surpass 2007's. He said that despite gas prices that hit $4 a gallon during peak summer travel, national park visitation was off by only one-half percent for the first 11 months of 2008.
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