Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail

The '''Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail''' ('''OVHT''') is part of the [[United States|U.S.]] [[National Trails System]]. It recognizes the [[Revolutionary War]] [[Overmountain Men]], [[Patriot (American Revolution)|Patriots]] from what is now East Tennessee who crossed the [[Great Smoky Mountains]] and then fought in the [[Battle of Kings Mountain]] in [[South Carolina]]. ==Location== The OVHT follows the route from [[Abingdon, Virginia]], fording the [[Watauga River]] at [[Sycamore Shoals]] through present day [[Elizabethton, Tennessee]], crossing the [[Doe River]] twice near both [[Hampton, Tennessee]] and [[Roan Mountain, Tennessee]], and ascending over the steep Great Smoky Mountains of [[Tennessee]] and [[North Carolina]] to the site of the Battle of Kings Mountain now within [[Kings Mountain National Military Park]]. The trail network consists of a 330-mile corridor, including a 70-mile branch from [[Elkin, North Carolina]], that joins the main route at [[Morganton, North Carolina]]. Fifty-seven miles of OVHT are officially developed for public use, and development continues on the remaining sections. The official sections of the trail were established through agreements with current landowners and often have overlapping designations. All officially certified segments are identified through the use of signs displaying the trail logo (an Overmountain man in profile on a brown and white triangle) or a white triangular blaze. A parallel [[Commemorative Motor Route]] travels along state highways and, in some stretches, actually travels over the old historic roadway. The Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail is a cooperative effort of the [[National Park Service]], the [[U.S. Forest Service]], the [[U.S. Army Corps of Engineers]], the [[Overmountain Victory Trail Association]], local governments, local citizens' associations, local historical societies and the states of [[Virginia]], Tennessee, North Carolina, and [[South Carolina]]. ==History== [[Image:James E. Carter - portrait.gif|thumb|upright|left|U.S. President Jimmy Carter]] In anticipation of both the upcoming [[American Bicentennial]] of the Declaration of Independence in [[1776]] and the 1980 bicentennial of the [[Battle of King's Mountain]], many citizens in the five states along the original routes—which included [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]] --- reenacted and hiked along the segments of the [[Appalachian Mountains|Appalachian mountain]] trails and highways closely following the path of the actual 1780 march to the battle site located near present day [[Kings Mountain, North Carolina]], on the North Carolina-South Carolina border. Hikers, military reenactors, and scouts have long followed the segments of the famous overmountain victory trail, and in [[1975]] three Elizabethton [[Boy Scout|boy scouts]] were among those who completed the first re-enactment of the overmountain march (approximately 214 miles in one direction) from Elizabethton to King's Mountain and were met at a ceremony by U.S. Vice President [[Nelson Rockefeller]] at the [[Kings Mountain National Military Park]] located near [[Blacksburg, South Carolina]]. Many of these same OVT hikers, reenactors, and area citizens later sought federal recognition of the overmountain march to the [[Battle of King's Mountain]] as being analogous to the spontaneous response of the patriot [[Minutemen]] at [[Battles of Lexington and Concord|Lexington and Concord]] during the [[American Revolutionary War]]. OVT supporters worked with representatives of other American trails to create what became known as the [[National Trails System]] and later carried scrolls petitioning [[United States Congress|Congress]] for national designation of the OVT route. The Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail was officially designated as a national historic trail during September 1980 by federal legislation authorized by the U.S. Congress, and later in 1980, President [[Jimmy Carter]] -- recognizing the historical significance of the frontier patriots marching over the [[Appalachian Mountains]] to defeat the [[Loyalist (American Revolution)|Loyalist]] army at the Battle of King's Mountain—signed federal law designating the historical overmountain route as the Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail, the first [[National Historic Trail]] established within the eastern United States exactly 200 years after the event it commemorates. ==External links== *[http://www.nps.gov/ovvi The National Park Service: Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail] {{TrailSystem}} {{Protected Areas of North Carolina}} {{Protected_Areas_of_Tennessee}} {{Protected Areas of Virginia}} {{Protected Areas of South Carolina}} {{NorthCarolinaTrails}} {{VirginiaTrails}} {{Piedmont Triad}} {{coord missing|North Carolina}}